AN: Hello there! I come bearing a new chapter! Now, based on all the wonderful reviews I have received, it seems that most readers have already decided whether they would like to see Lizzie stay with Caroline or with the Mikaelsons. She does make her decision in this chapter. But please, stick with me, even if it's not the way you wanted the story to go. It's not quite finished yet, so be patient! I absolutely adore all you readers and I hope you will continue along for the ride. :) Thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoy!
A few minutes pass, as Klaus regains his composure after Caroline's admission. His eyes lock on Caroline and he's fighting the temptation to allow his thumb to wipe away her silent tears. "I understand, Caroline. I do. Your happiness is important." Klaus slips his hand over Caroline's. "I do wish you would stay, if it was what Lizzie wanted." Klaus' eyes pierce Caroline and she can see just how honest and open he is being. "My deepest desire would be for you to be able to find happiness, here, with Lizzie and me."
Caroline hates the vulnerability she sees in Klaus, knowing that she cannot give him what he wants. "I was happy with Lizzie. The life she and I had in Dallas was fulfilling for me." Caroline admits, holding back the desire to pull her hand away from Klaus'. "If Lizzie chooses to stay here, it's because she wants the chance at a supernatural life, with you and Hayley. It's not fair for me to stick around and deny the three of you the opportunity to bond and be together. I would be on the sidelines, only helping out when she needed me. Second choice again." Caroline flips her hand over so she can hold Klaus'. She feels the tingles from his warm skin and she smiles looking down at their hands. "Thank you for understanding, but it might be time for me to find my own happy."
Klaus' eyes dart back and forth between Caroline's face and their hands, resting on the table. "You deserve to be happy, love." Klaus whispers.
Their honest moment is broken when wet footsteps are heard trekking through the house. Caroline looks up to see Lizzie, nearly dead on her feet and soaked to the bone, clutching Hayley's hand and leaning on her biological mother to stand up. "What happened?" Caroline asks as she stands up from the table and briskly walks to Lizzie.
"We went swimming." Hayley shrugs. "I think I tired her out."
"I'll say." Klaus approaches Lizzie and leaves a kiss on the top of her head. "Did you have fun?"
"Mmm hmm." Lizzie hums as she throws herself at Caroline.
"Say good night, Liz." Caroline prompts as she easily lifts Lizzie up. Lizzie rests her head on Caroline's shoulder and wraps her arms around Caroline's neck. Lizzie sleepily nods and lifts her hand in a tiny wave to Klaus and Hayley. "We'll be back in the morning." Caroline promises as she carries her daughter back to their apartment.
Hayley turns to Klaus, her eyes shining with joy and optimism. "She's really warming up to us, to New Orleans." Klaus glances over at Hayley and tries to share in her joy. "I think she will choose to stay." Klaus smiles at Hayley because she is just too ecstatic about the idea of Lizzie choosing them. It sends a small pain through Klaus' undead heart to think that Lizzie would unknowingly be choosing them over the woman who has raised her for the past five years. "She couldn't stop talking about Davina doing the spell. I think she really wants to be a part of this world."
"Fantastic." Klaus comments, though his heart is not in it. How will he go about raising Lizzie knowing that it hurt Caroline so much? Knowing that Caroline will be the one to walk away and not come back this time. Klaus notices Hayley giving him a strange look and he forces his face into a blinding smile, dimples and all. Hayley bounces off to go get things prepared for tomorrow and Klaus slinks down into a chair and tries to drown his sadness and fears in bourbon.
The next morning comes way too quickly for Caroline. She tries to get things ready for herself and Lizzie to do the spell. Caroline is busying herself around the apartment and Lizzie is shoveling don her breakfast. "I wonder what awesome powers I will have." Lizzie muses to Damon. "Maybe I'll be like some kind of magic princess." Damon laughs at the young girl.
Enzo is sitting at the table with Lizzie and Damon, but his focus is on Caroline. He watches how she seems to be stressed and worried over a little spell. Enzo smoothly leaves the table and pulls Caroline into the hallway, away from Hope. "Talk to me, Goldilocks. What's got you all crazy this morning?" Enzo asks, still holding Caroline's hands hostage.
"It's nothing. No big deal." Caroline tries to wave it off and pulls on her hands.
"Caroline." Enzo pulls her attention back to him by actually calling her by her name. "Are you ok?"
Caroline looks at Lizzie, talking animatedly with Damon. "I'm not ok. But I will be." Caroline nods and she allows her frantic thoughts to disperse.
"I want you to know, that no matter how all this ends. I am here for you." Enzo's face transforms from concerned to his usual smirk. "Even if you need to run away for a bit. I'll run with you."
Caroline lets a little chuckle drift past her lips. "Thank you, Enzo." They part ways and move to the kitchen to join Damon and Lizzie.
The door slowly opens and Stefan timidly walks into the apartment, still wearing his clothes from last night. "Uh, Hey guys."
Caroline scans Stefan's appearance, taking in how rumpled his clothes look and how he looks tired and his hair is disheveled. "Trying to sneak back in. Where were you last night, baby bro?" Damon shakes his head, playfully scolding his brother.
"I was out with Bekah." Stefan mumbles and unsuccessfully tries to make his hair look remotely as styled as it usually is.
Caroline makes a gagging face at Stefan, causing Enzo to spit out his food in laughter. "Mommy, stop it." Lizzie places her hands on her hips. She slips out of her chair and walks up to Stefan. She wraps her little arms around his waist and sighs, wistfully. "I think it's romantic. A love that stretches across the decades."
"I don't know if you could call what they have love. Maybe making lo-" Damon begins.
"Hey Damon!" Caroline slaps the back of Damon's head. "Lizzie is seven. There are things that we haven't quite gotten around to talking about yet." Caroline hisses, quietly. Enzo laughs again and Stefan removes himself to go shower and take a nap.
Caroline and Lizzie decide to walk to the Mikaelson Mansion. Lizzie has so much excitement that she can hardly be still. Caroline thinks that a nice walk might help to alleviate the energy. Lizzie skips most of the way and pretty much drags Caroline along. Lizzie takes off into a full blown run when they arrive outside the house. She pulls the door open and impatiently waits for Caroline to join her in the foyer of the home.
"Hi Lizzie. Hi Caroline." Davina is also waiting in the foyer, seeming less comfortable in the massive home than Lizzie.
"Hi Davina!" Lizzie exclaims.
"Elizabeth, you need to calm down. Control yourself." Caroline places her hands on her daughter's shoulders and puts some pressure on them to help still the energetic child. "Hi Davina. So what exactly are you going to be doing for this spell?"
"Wonderful question, love." Klaus moves down the stairs gracefully and Lizzie wrenches herself out of Caroline's hold to launch at Klaus.
"Hi Daddy!" Lizzie's arms wrap tightly around Klaus' broad shoulders and Caroline would be completely moved by the affection shared between father and daughter, if it weren't for the current circumstances.
"You are certainly in a good mood, darling." Klaus comments as his arms loosen around her middle, allowing her to slide back down to the floor. "Hello, Caroline." Klaus drawls at Caroline.
Before Caroline can answer, Hayley emerges from behind a closed door. "So, are we ready?" She shares some of Lizzie's excitement.
"Ok, so I need Klaus, Hayley and Lizzie's blood. Then I need to chant over Lizzie's body." Davina explains, as they make themselves comfortable in the living room.
"Is it gonna hurt?" Lizzie asks, looking to Caroline.
"No, it shouldn't hurt." Davina replies, in a comforting tone. Davina hands a bowl to Hayley, along with a small knife. Hayley cuts her hand and lets some blood drop into the bowl. The bowl and knife is passed to Klaus who does the same.
Lizzie looks at the knife and the blood and shrinks back into the couch. "I don't know if I want to do this anymore." Her voice is shaky and she is obviously scared.
Caroline looks at the dumbfounded faces of Klaus and Hayley. She huffs and walks over to Lizzie. Caroline takes the knife in one hand and holds Lizzie's chin in the other. "Remember last summer when you wanted to learn to ride a bike?" Lizzie nods and Caroline lets go of her chin. She positions Lizzie's hand over the bowl. "Remember when you fell off and skinned both of your knees?"
Lizzie nods again. "You told me that it was ok to be afraid. Because you can't be brave if you weren't afraid of anything first."
"Be brave, Lizzie." Caroline murmurs and quickly pierces Lizzie's palm. The blood dribbles out and Lizzie winces in pain, but smiles when Davina takes the bowl away. Caroline pulls a Band-Aid out of her purse and covers the cut on Lizzie's hand.
Davina takes the bowl and begins to mutter some words in Latin. She reaches her hand out for Lizzie and they sit on the floor, across from each other with the bowl of blood between them. Davina continues to speak softly in the dead language and Lizzie just watches Davina in awe.
"Thank you, Caroline."
Caroline jerks her head away from Lizzie and Davina and it takes a minute for Hayley's words to register with her. "Uh, what?"
"Thank you. For backing us up on this." Hayley elaborates. She turns her attention towards Lizzie and Davina. "It's important for us to know what abilities she has and what training she will need. But she wouldn't have done it, if you didn't agree." Hayley points out.
"You're welcome. But I did it for Lizzie. I could see that she is really interested in this supernatural stuff and she was really excited to have this spell done." Caroline admits and notices just how quiet and subdued Klaus has been this morning. Klaus is watching Lizzie thoughtfully, thought every minute or so, his eyes wander to glance at Caroline for a few seconds.
"I understand that you have been Lizzie's mom for the past five years. And I'm thankful for all you have done for her. I'm just curious, do you think she could ever accept me as her mom, too?" Hayley asks, her voice is dripping with vulnerability.
"I honestly don't know." Caroline focuses on Lizzie and desperately avoids Klaus' intense stare.
"I don't intend to replace you, but she could just be one of those lucky kids with two moms." Hayley laughs thinking how lucky Lizzie would be to have two very different but loving moms.
"I guess that would depend on if she decides to stay in New Orleans or go back to Dallas." Caroline murmurs as Klaus' eyes flash back to Caroline. He scans her face intently, begging her to look at him so he can see if she has changed her mind about not staying.
Silence extends for the next hour, as Davina is in a trance, mumbling quietly. She snaps out of it, gasping for a breath and looking around, wildly. Her eyes focus on Lizzie, who is still sitting crisscross on the floor, across from her. "Did you figure it out?" Lizzie asks, eagerly.
Davina gives the girl a smile and nods. "Well, out with it, witch." Klaus demands, standing up and helping Lizzie off the floor.
"I think you should call your family here. Then I can tell everyone at once." Davina explains.
Klaus quickly texts his siblings and then shoves his phone back in his pocket. "They should be here momentarily. Klaus turns his attention to Lizzie. "Do you want a snack?"
Lizzie grabs his hand and starts pulling Klaus towards the kitchen. "Do you have any oranges? I love oranges."
Klaus helps Lizzie grab some snacks and by the time they wander back into the living room, the rest of the Mikaelsons have joined them. "Well, Davina. What did you find out?" Klaus asks impatiently.
"Lizzie is what could only be described as a tribrid. She has the gift of magic, the werewolf gene and a hidden vampire gene. She won't have the ability to turn into a wolf unless she kills someone, activating the werewolf gene. She won't have any of the benefits or disadvantages of being a vampire unless she dies. But she does not need the aid of vampire blood in her system to turn, it's already there." Davina takes a moment and looks around at the faces of Lizzie and her family. Lizzie is enthralled and Hayley and Klaus both look like proud parents. Davina's heart goes out to Caroline who looks sad. "As for her magic, Lizzie could probably begin training and doing some simple spells as soon as you allow it." Davina avoids the awkwardness of picking a parent to direct the comment at and just smiles at Lizzie. "I'd be more than willing to work with her and train her."
Lizzie's eyes widen with elation and a smile nearly splits her face in half. "Oh, mom. I want to. Can I? Can I?" She excitedly bounces towards Caroline. "Please? Can we stay in New Orleans so I can learn magic and be around all my family?" Lizzie begs, innocently.
Caroline nods sadly, but forces a fake smile on her face. Lizzie is too excited to really notice how forced her mom's smile is. She turns to look at Hayley and Klaus and take in their reactions. Hayley's smile matches Lizzie's and it becomes obvious that they are indeed mother and daughter. Klaus' smile is not forced like Caroline's but it hardly reaches his eyes. Lizzie looks between Hayley and Klaus and compares their reactions. "Daddy, aren't you happy that we are staying?" She asks, sitting down next to him.
"Of course I am, darling." Klaus replies and wraps an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to him. His eyes drift to Caroline, who is sitting still and quiet, while the rest of the room is buzzing with excitement.
"You don't look as happy as Hayley does." Lizzie points out.
Klaus lets out a little laugh and he kisses the top of her head. "Trust me, I am very happy that you chose to stay in New Orleans."
Caroline watches the interaction and sighs to herself. "Hey Liz. How about we get your settled in here and I will go back to Dallas to pack up your stuff?" Caroline offers and Klaus can see that it is killing her, slowly.
"You mean our stuff?" Lizzie corrects her mom.
"Yeah." Caroline says softly, not wanting to lie to her daughter, but not wanting to get into anything with all the Mikaelsons around.
"We need to get your room set up!" Rebekah hops off the chair she was sitting in. "Come Lizzie, Caroline will grab your stuff from the apartment and you can pick whichever room in the mansion you want to be your bedroom." Lizzie races over to Rebekah and follows her upstairs. Hayley gives Caroline an appreciative smile and leaves to catch up to Lizzie and Rebekah.
"Caroline." Klaus walks over and tries to take her hand.
Caroline pulls her hand away. "Don't Klaus. I'll be back in about ten minutes." Caroline vamps out of the house, leaving Klaus standing in the middle of the room, with a distraught look on his face. Elijah is the only witness to the scene and he takes it in quietly, wondering what exactly has occurred between his brother and Caroline.
Caroline returns within ten minutes and follows Lizzie's voice up to the room she has chosen. The room is large, much bigger than her room in Dallas. There is a large picture window that overlooks the city and stationed below it is a plush window seat. There is an adjoining bathroom that has a tub large enough for Lizzie to swim in. "Don't you just love this room, mom? I don't know if I will ever want to leave." She sighs, dreamily. "Which room are you going to pick? Do you want me to help you?" Lizzie bounces off of her bed and goes to the door.
"No, it's not necessary." Caroline says softly. "I need to return to Dallas for a few days so I can get the rest of your stuff. So, I won't need a room here."
"Yet." Lizzie adds and Caroline still doesn't have the heart to tell her daughter she will never need a room at the Mikaelson Mansion.
Caroline sends texts out to Damon, Enzo and Stefan letting them know of Lizzie's decision and her plans. Damon responds to tell her that he's heading out to go find Elena. He wishes Caroline luck. Stefan and Enzo both show up at the Mikaelson home as Caroline is gathering the Mikaelson's together. "I'd like to make some suggestions." Caroline begins and Klaus laughs, remembering the last time she did that. "Lizzie is still new to the world of the supernatural, and while you don't need to hide your nature from her, it might be a good idea to keep the feeding to a minimum, in her presence that is. And the killing. No killing. And don't use this house for your dalliances." Caroline looks predominantly at Kol, who pretends to be offended.
"What's a dalliance?" Lizzie asks, standing beside her mom.
"Don't worry about it, Liz. Grown up stuff." Lizzie nods but smiles brightly when Kol winks at her.
"Don't worry, Care. I'll keep them in line." Stefan comes up behind Caroline and wraps her in a hug.
"Are you staying for a while, Uncle Stefan?"
"Of course Liz. Someone has to keep an eye on you." Stefan ruffles Lizzie's hair.
"Have no fear Gorgeous, I'll keep you company on your road trip." Enzo calls out, from the doorway he is leaning up against. Caroline turns to Enzo and mouths the words 'thank you'.
"Ok, come here Liz." Caroline squats down and opens her arms. Lizzie flies into them and the two share a tight embrace. "I love you, more than anything." Caroline whispers into Lizzie's ear.
"I love you too, mommy." Lizzie's voice breaks a little, as a sob comes through.
"I'll be back in a couple of days. And I'm sure you will have so much fun, you won't even miss me." A few stray tears slide down Caroline's cheeks.
"I will miss you every day!" Lizzie cries.
"Then I will call you, every day. OK?" Caroline pulls away enough to lay her eyes on her daughter's teary face.
"I love you, mommy." Lizzie repeats.
"I love you too, my little Lizzie." Caroline replies. The Mikaelsons all watch the emotional moment, silently. Caroline finally peels herself away from Lizzie and stands up.
"I'll be waiting in the car, Gorgeous." Enzo drawls and he walks out of the house.
"Call me later." Stefan demands as he leaves a kiss on Caroline's cheek.
"Always." Caroline gives him a hug and very faintly whispers. "Thanks, Stef."
Klaus offers his arm to walk Caroline out. Caroline sighs, but takes it anyways. They stop a few feet away from the car and Klaus places his hands on Caroline's shoulders, turning her to face him. "Please think about it. Think about staying." Caroline swallows thickly. "Maybe some time away might make you change your mind about leaving Lizzie altogether." Klaus suggests.
"I don't know." Caroline mumbles. Klaus' hands slide up Caroline's shoulders, along her neck and rest on her cheeks. They just stare at each other for a minute, both feeling the connection that runs through them. "I'll be back in two or three days." Caroline says, trying to break the moment.
"I'll be waiting." Klaus leans forward and leaves a kiss on her forehead. He vamps away into the house, leaving Caroline stunned and strangely cold. She takes a deep breath and gets into the car.