Oh, man, finishing up this story has been like pulling teeth. It turns out, I have little motivation in the summer to do much of any kind of writing. I also had two summer classes to take and they took up a lot more of my time than I expected. I did, however, finish up the epilogue and this is it. It's been a wild ride with you all and I'm glad you liked the story so much. I feel like I've been properly initiated into the Klaroline family now. I'm getting back to In Another Life now that I've wrapped this up so look for that in the next few weeks (hopefully; I actually make no promises on a date). Let me know what you think about the ending because you guys have given such great feedback. Thanks!
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Six months later...
"It looks like a department store's holiday display exploded in here," Katherine muttered in wonder as she and Elijah walked into the London manor on the morning of Christmas Eve. "Caroline or Rebekah?"
"Both, I'd imagine," Elijah replied as Stefan emerged from the long hallway to their right.
"Hey, guys," the younger Salvatore brother greeted them. "Merry Christmas."
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Where's Caroline? She's the only person I actually like around here."
"In their wing, finishing up her gift-wrapping," Stefan reported. "Rebekah and Elena are shopping, Damon is out doing God knows what, and Klaus is painting."
"Of course," Elijah smirked. "Well, I think Katerina and I will settle in for now. Where are we staying?"
"Caroline requested you stay in their wing," Stefan reported. The house in London was more like an estate, with a west wing—Klaus and Caroline's and an east wing—Stefan and Rebekah's—and a common area in the middle, though both wings had full kitchens and living quarters in them. "You can have your pick of rooms there because Damon and Elena have been staying in ours."
Katherine took Elijah's hand and led him to the in-house elevator that would take them to the third floor of the west wing. After choosing a room and leaving him to unpack, she went off in search of Caroline.
"Hi, Kat," Caroline called out from her bedroom.
"This is one of those times I regret killing you because vampires are so damn hard to sneak up on," Katherine grumbled as she pushed open the door to the room. "Oh, my God."
The room was covered from wall to wall in gifts of all shapes and sizes.
"I love Christmas," Caroline gushed, "so I tend to go a little overboard. Don't worry, several of these are yours."
"Elijah's having ours delivered this afternoon," Katherine explained, sitting in a chair near where Caroline was wrapping on the floor. "Stefan said Rebekah and Elena are out shopping together. How'd you manage that?"
"I didn't," Caroline denied. "It was all Stefan's doing. I did my best to keep them apart, thinking that was safest, but it was important to him that they became friends so he made it happen. I still think it's weird and they've been fine now for almost three months and I actually think Rebekah and Stefan are going to travel with Damon and Elena for a while after the holidays."
"Wow," Katherine breathed. "So you and Klaus will have this whole house to yourselves?"
"No," Caroline shook her head. "We're gonna leave, too. It's not easy being newlyweds when you live with four other people, even in a house this big, so we're gonna stay at the place in Chicago for a while. He loves the city and we haven't really stayed there since we've been together. We just went for a weekend once."
"Elijah and I are leaving Paris in March," Katherine stated. "He'd like to go back to New Orleans to check in there but I'm interested in California. I've never spent much time there and he's never been. Can you imagine? Alive for over a thousand years and never seeing California?"
"Klaus hates it," Caroline laughed softly, adding a bow to her last gift for Damon. 'Too much sun, too many bad drivers,' he says. I'm neutral about it. It's fun for a little while but I couldn't stay too long."
"Elijah doesn't think he'll like it," Katherine shrugged, "but I'll convince him. Is your mom here?"
"No, when we all went home for Thanksgiving, she said that she was going to meet Ryan's family for Christmas in St. Louis so that's where they are," Caroline reported. "I think he's going to propose."
"Oh, yeah?" Katherine mused. "Does he know about...everything?"
"No, but if he proposes, I said we'd tell him together," Caroline replied. "I like Ryan and he's good to her and Klaus even thinks he's okay for you know, a human."
"What a glowing compliment," Katherine rolled her eyes as the door swung open and Klaus walked in. "Speak of the devil."
"Oh, you're here," Klaus deadpanned. "Where's Elijah?"
"Unpacking," Katherine said, standing up. "I guess I'll go help him." She patted Klaus' shoulder as she walked past him. "Lovely to see you, as always, Niklaus." She flashed away before he could retaliate.
"All finished in here, love?" he asked, changing out of his paint-stained t-shirt.
"Yep," she beamed, standing to admire her work. "An even ten presents for everyone. Except you, of course."
He groaned. "You bought Damon the same amount you bough Stefan? That hardly seems fair."
"He's only going to be here for two more days," she reasoned, wrapping her arms around his waist and rubbing her hands up his bare back. "And then we'll be off to Chicago and you won't have to see him for a while."
"Now that I like the sound of," he smiled, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "As coordinator of all holiday events, what are the plans for this evening?"
"Ice skating," she whispered. "Before you get mad, Damon has never been and Elena begged! It will be fun, I promise."
"I prefer to spend as little time with Damon Salvatore as possible," he reminded her. "I've done a fairly good job at avoiding him for the last six months."
Caroline slid her hands down his back to the waistband of his jeans. "But if you go, I'll be inclined to reward you later."
"The things I do for you," he murmured. "I will go and watch you skate."
"Oh, no," she denied. "If I skate, you skate. We're a package deal now, Mikaelson. If you do it, think of all the ways we can recreate our honeymoon tonight though. You know, we've never has sex in the snow. That might be fun."
Klaus clenched his jaw and let his head drop to her shoulder. "All right, fine, I'll skate. But I won't like it."
"Of course not," she smirked, backing away from him. "But I didn't like that stupid art class you made me take so this is like payback."
"Payback?" he repeated. "Caroline, sweetheart, I caved and bought you a car for that one art class you went to."
"I deserved a car of my own!" she cried. "I don't need to be driven around everywhere. I'm an independent woman."
"Oh, I know," he nodded, walking to the en suite bathroom. "You don't like to let me do anything for you."
Caroline scoffed. "That's because you want to do everything! I'm not some fragile little doll, Nik. I don't need constant protection."
He flashed back to stand in front of her again. "I don't know how to make you understand that if anything were to ever happen to you, it would kill me. I would be begging your mother for the last white oak stake and I'd let Katerina drive it right through my heart. So yes, maybe I am a tad overprotective but I can't help it. You are my entire world, sweetheart."
She placed her hands on either side of his face. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? I'd be too afraid to leave you alone with Katherine and Damon around."
He sighed. "Let's not talk about this anymore. It's depressing."
"You're right," she agreed. "And the holidays shouldn't be depressing. They're about family and being with people you love and—"
"If they're about being with people I love, why is there anyone here other than you?" Klaus interrupted.
"Stop it," she warned. "You love Rebekah and Elijah and Stefan. And you'll learn to love the others over time. Maybe. I hope."
"Don't hold your breath on it," he advised, returning to the bathroom.
"It wouldn't matter if I did," she smirked, following behind him. "I'm already dead."
"Ha-ha," he chuckled humorlessly. "I'm going to take a shower. Would you care to join me?"
"I should be a good hostess and make sure Elijah and Katherine are settling in all right," she murmured as he started to undress, "but I'm sure they can fend for themselves." She slammed the door behind her.
"Princess says you and Stefan are planning to travel with Damon and Saint Elena after the holidays," Katherine said to Rebekah as they arranged gifts around the massive tree in the shared parlor that afternoon. "How did that come about? Last time we saw you all, you hated her."
"She's not so terrible," Rebekah shrugged, "and I like seeing how happy Stefan is about having his brother around. I know what it's like to spend long periods of time hating a sibling and I know how nice it is to be getting along so I want him to have that for as long as possible."
"But traveling with both Salvatore brothers?" Katherine scoffed, adjusting a bow on a gift for Caroline. "Sounds like a form of torture."
"For you, perhaps," Rebekah agreed, "but I never played them against each other and then turned them."
Katherine rolled her eyes. "That was over 150 years ago; it's time they get over it."
"I don't think that's possible," Damon spoke up as he walked in from Stefan and Rebekah's wing. "You let me think you were in that tomb for 140-something years all while you pined for my baby bro. And then you tried to kill Elena more than a few times and aided in the terrible things Klaus put us through."
"I hid from that monster for 500 years!" Katherine exclaimed. "Why would I ever help him?!"
"To help yourself, of course," Damon reasoned. "That's all you've ever cared about."
"Not anymore," Katherine denied softly. "I care about Caroline and I love Elijah. I hate you," she told Damon, "and your brother and Klaus but you," she added to the female Original, "aren't so bad anymore."
"Wow," Stefan mused as he approached. "Katherine Pierce almost needs two hands to count the people she cares about."
"Okay, let's all play nice," Caroline advised as she and Klaus came from their wing. "We're only going to be together for a few days so I think we can all manage to call a truce."
"Easy for you to request, sweetheart," Klaus spoke up. "You like everyone here and the feelings are mutual. The rest of us each have an adversary."
"Not Elijah," Caroline shook her head.
"Okay, so the voice of reason and Mary Sunshine don't have enemies," Damon muttered. "What a surprise."
"I don't," Rebekah added. "Elena and I get along now." She beamed at her husband. "I have no enemies here."
Stefan grinned. "I'm so proud."
"Well, now that we've established who hates who," Klaus began, "can we settle plans for the evening? I have things I need to finish for tomorrow."
Caroline furrowed her brow at her husband. "What do you have to finish? I already wrapped everything."
"I couldn't exactly let you prepare your own gifts," he explained. "And I'm ready for the most part but I have one last detail to tie up."
"Well, I was thinking we could head to the park at seven," Caroline suggested, shelving that conversation with Klaus for later.
"I'm a little foggy but when did I agree to ice skating?" Damon wondered.
"You didn't," Elena denied, "but I agreed for you. You've never been and we used to do it all the time when we were kids."
"We did," Caroline remembered. "Matt was so bad at it. He always needed one of those little walkers to stay upright."
"And Tyler would tease him mercilessly," Elena added.
Klaus tensed at mention of Tyler. "Let's not ruin the evening so soon with mention of things long past."
Caroline slid her hand into his comfortingly. "Let's just all be ready and meet in the foyer at seven."
"Well, it's only four-thirty now so I'm going to take a shower then," Rebekah declared, disappearing back to her wing with Stefan in tow.
"And I'm going to step out for a bit," Klaus added, pulling away from his wife. "But I promise I'll return in time."
She went with him to the front door. "Where are you going?"
"It's a surprise, love," he answered. "If I tell you, that will ruin it." He leaned in and kissed her softly. "I won't be too long."
Before she could protest, he disappeared out the front door.
"I can see the worry on your face," Damon spoke up as he walked up behind her. "It'll give you wrinkles."
"It's just unnerving," she admitted. "He doesn't keep secrets from me and he's been so weird lately."
"But you know it's a gift for you," Damon said, nudging her gently with his shoulder.
"I hate surprises," she replied. "I don't know. He's just taken a lot of phone calls lately and I'm worried that Chicago isn't going to happen and we're going to end up somewhere where he has business to take care of."
Damon frowned. "Well, if you don't want to do that, you're welcome to travel with us for a while."
"I want to be with my husband," she whined. "I just want him to put his damn phone down for a night."
"Tell him that, Blondie," he advised. "You're the only person he actively listens to. If he knew he was making you worry, he'd address it."
"I just don't want to sound like I'm nagging," Caroline sighed.
"Klaus probably needs a little nagging in his life," Damon determined. "It'll knock him down a few pegs."
Caroline just shook her head and headed down the long hallway to her side of the house.
"My wife is getting suspicious," Klaus murmured as he stood with his supplier, Johan. "I don't do much without discussing it with her and she knows nothing of this."
Johan chuckled. "Some things are better kept from the wives."
"You don't know mine," Klaus explained, eyeing his order. "She has some dormant insecurities that emerge when she thinks I'm keeping secrets."
"Well, I'm sure you'll make it up to her with this," Johan assured him. "You ever done this before?"
"Never," Klaus denied. "I've done quite a few things in my day but never this."
"Let's go back to my office and I'll tell you everything you'll need to know," Johan said, leading Klaus down a back hallway of the building.
"Call him again," Elena requested of Caroline as they stood in the foyer at quarter after seven. "He said he'd be back by now."
Caroline groaned and dialed Klaus' phone again. "It's going straight to his voicemail every time."
"Maybe we should shoot up flares, pretend you're in danger?" Damon suggested. "He'd come running."
Elena shoved him. "He'd rip out your heart for suggesting far less. "
Before Caroline could open her mouth, Klaus walked through the front door.
"You're late, brother," Elijah chastised him.
"My apologies," Klaus replied, looking to Caroline. "I had business to attend to."
She looked away from him. "Let's just go."
"Good thing you're part wolf because you'll be sleeping in the doghouse tonight," Damon joked.
Klaus ignored him caught up to Caroline as they made their way outside to the waiting cars. "You're mad."
"Nope," she denied, popping the 'p' with emphasis. "I'm just ready to ice skate."
"I'm sorry I was late," he apologized, reaching for her gloved hand.
Caroline pulled her hand away. "No, you aren't, because you're only deigning to do this. If the tables were turned, and you'd planned this night, I never would've been late." She climbed into the last seat of the front car with Elena and Damon, leaving him to the SUV with the others.
"Come on, Nik," Rebekah called to him. "She'll get over it."
He sat in the front seat and looked out the window. "I didn't intend to be late."
"Where were you?" Stefan asked him.
"Preparing for Caroline's last gift," Klaus explained.
"And it took all day?" Katherine scoffed. "Are you building her a castle?"
"If I thought she wanted one, I would," he answered coolly, "but no, it isn't a castle."
Elijah eyed his brother. "But it's something you're worried about. You think she won't like it?"
"I know she will," Klaus said.
"Then what is the bloody problem?" Rebekah demanded.
"I don't know that I will," was his simple response.
When they arrived at the park, Caroline and Elena went ahead and got skates for everyone, bringing them back to the cars quickly.
"It looks like they're closed," Damon noticed.
"They are," Caroline confirmed. "I didn't think you'd want strangers watching you fall on your ass all night so I compelled the man to let us have the rink for a while."
"I'm a vampire," Damon reminded her. "Stealth-like reflexes and all."
Caroline only smirked. "We'll see."
Stefan watched as the four girls laced up their skates and made their way to the ice rink gracefully, as if they'd been skating every day of their lives. "They make it all look so easy."
"How can I acquit myself?" Klaus asked him once his own skates were on.
"Just pray it's a really good present," Stefan chuckled. "Caroline likes thoughtful gifts so if that's what it is, she'll forgive you. You just might have to wait until tomorrow morning."
"Which means you should probably expect to sleep in a guest room," Damon added.
Caroline watched as Klaus stood at the edge of the rink while the three other couples skated together later in the evening. Even Elijah, the most straight-laced person she'd ever known, seemed to be having a good time with Katherine holding his hand. Klaus, however, had avoided her most of the night and she knew he was giving her space. With a frown, she skated over to him.
"Hello, sweetheart," he greeted her softly. "You skate beautifully."
"Come on," she sighed, grabbing his hands and dragging him out onto the ice. "You're sulking and it's making everyone feel sorry for you—which they totally shouldn't—but I'm tired of skating by myself. When I planned this night, I didn't intend for us to be arguing and I won't let you being late ruin that for me."
Klaus just chuckled and let her lead them. Having Caroline speak to him, even angry, was better than her ignoring him all night.
"I'd forgive you faster if you'd just tell me where you were," she told him.
"If I do that, love, it will ruin the surprise of it all," he explained, rubbing gentle circles on her hand with his thumb. "Please, just know that it is for you and hopefully, you will enjoy it."
"I don't like surprises," she said softly. "I've been kidnapped and tortured one time too many to appreciate them."
Klaus tensed at mention of her dark past.
"But I'm okay now," she assured him, sensing his blood boiling. "I'm happy even, though I don't much care for my husband keeping secrets."
"Only til the morning," he shrugged nonchalantly.
"Fine," she grumbled. "But you're still sleeping in a guest room."
"Told you," Damon smirked in their direction, having eavesdropped on their conversation.
Before he knew what was happening, Damon found himself thrown back, landing in a pile of snow.
"Klaus!" Elena cried, running to his side. "Was that necessary?"
"Probably not," Klaus denied, "but I enjoyed it. Damon should be more careful when he listens to things he shouldn't."
Elena looked to her friend. "Care? A little help?"
Caroline, who'd watched the whole encounter from Klaus' side, made a face. "Sorry, Elena, but I really hate that particular hobby of Damon's and he needed to be put in his place. I just happened to luck into marrying the one guy really good at doing that."
Damon rolled his eyes as he sat up, but not without difficulty. "You're a dick."
"Takes one to know one, mate," Klaus replied, taking Caroline's hand once more to return to their activity.
"I still hate him," Damon grumbled as Elena helped him up. "Six months of living under the same roof and I hate him as much as ever."
"No, you don't," Elena denied. "You might still hate him but you don't want to kill him anymore. You wouldn't do that to Caroline, just like he wouldn't either."
"Who knew our Miss Mystic Falls would be the one to unite us all?" Damon joked.
"Deep down, she did," Elena smiled. "Well, she hoped."
"Are we finished yet?" Katherine asked an hour later. "It's cold, late, and my feet hurt. I'm also getting hungry and that means I'll start getting antsy and the good people of London will be in grave danger."
"All right," Caroline agreed. "We can go since we have an early morning. I want to be up by eight for breakfast so we can open gifts after."
"Eight?" Katherine whined. "We're friendly and all now, princess, but I'm not an early riser."
"Please?" Caroline begged. "You guys are only here for a few days and then everyone is leaving and we might not see each other for a while."
"You're so sentimental, Blondie," Damon teased as they walked back to the cars. "Don't you think six months living with me have been enough for a lifetime?"
"You? Yes," she answered. "But not Elena. And I'm so used to having Stefan and Rebekah with us all the time."
"We won't travel forever," Stefan assured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Too much time with Damon will come to irritate me and I'll need a break."
Caroline grinned. "Everyone does eventually. I will never understand how Elena does it."
Stefan looked ahead at where Klaus walked with his siblings. "Most would say the same for you."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she muttered. "But I love him so really, what can I do?"
Stefan laughed. "I have no idea."
That night, as Caroline prepared for bed, she found the room incredibly empty. She and Klaus hadn't spent a night apart since their bet before the wedding and she'd promised herself back then that she'd never do it again if she could help it. But he was keeping secrets, knowing she hated them, and he had to be punished. She climbed into their bed and curled up into his pillow.
Klaus woke up from a light sleep to the sound of someone quietly sneaking into the room several hours later. He didn't have to look to know it was his wife; he had a sixth sense when it came to her, just like she did for him.
"Well, hello," he grinned, scooting over as she crawled into the bed next to him.
"Hi," Caroline greeted him in a whisper. "You were probably sleeping and I'm sorry for waking you up but I couldn't sleep."
Klaus pulled her to him. "Why not, love?"
She sighed. "You know why, Nik. I don't like sleeping apart."
"I know," he smiled, "but I like to hear you say it."
Caroline shoved him away. "You're winning a major battle here so don't push it. We have to be up in four hours and I'd like to sleep for a bit."
Klaus pulled her back to him and ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry for the secret."
"I know," she muttered, wrapping her arm around his waist. "I love you, Nik, so I guess that means I can let you have one secret, just this once."
"They do call you the benevolent one for a reason, I suppose," he chuckled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight, love."
"Night," she breathed, finally succumbing to sleep.
When Klaus woke up at seven-thirty, he found himself alone in the guest room. He listened carefully for a moment and picked out her voice amongst the others downstairs in the kitchen.
"Morning," Rebekah greeted him twenty minutes later after he'd showered and dressed. "How was the guest room?"
Klaus eyed Caroline. "Surprisingly comfortable."
"Probably due to the late night visitor," Katherine spoke up as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "Or was that a secret?"
Caroline rolled her eyes. "It's not a secret. Husbands and wives sleep together all the time. Let's just eat so we can open presents."
"You just want to know the surprise present," Stefan said knowingly.
"Maybe," Caroline shrugged simply, leading everyone to the dining room. "Look, everyone knows I don't love surprises so much and I think I've handled this really well."
"You made him sleep in a guest room!" Rebekah cried.
"That she slept in with him," Katherine smirked.
"Okay, enough," Elijah declared in his commanding tone. "Let's enjoy our breakfast. Caroline and Elena worked hard on it."
"Oh, of course," Katherine rolled her eyes, looking at Elena. "Well, if Saint Elena worked so hard, we should all be appreciative."
"Kat," Caroline warned. "Let it go. It's one more day."
Katherine said nothing and just went back to eating her Belgian waffles.
Once everyone had finished, they gathered in the parlor around the massive tree Caroline and Rebekah had bought the week before.
"Can I have mine first?" Caroline asked Klaus.
"No," he shook his head. "Well, actually, you can have a gift first but not the one you want."
She frowned and started passing out gifts. "Whatever."
Damon read the tag on his first one. "From Klaus? What the hell is this?"
"Well, you've been a guest in my home for six months so it's customary," Klaus replied without looking up from the present in his own hands.
"It's not going to explode when I open it, is it?" Damon wondered, ripping off the paper.
"No, Caroline would be angry if I blew up the sitting room," Klaus answered.
With a bit of trepidation, Damon lifted the lid of the box and scoffed. "Seriously?"
Elena leaned over to look and burst into laughter. "Oh, that's mean."
"What is it?" Stefan asked.
"This," Damon grumbled, holding up an empty bottle of bourbon.
Katherine raised an eyebrow. "I don't get it."
"It's Damon's favorite bourbon," Elena explained, "but it's an American brand so Klaus has refused to let him have it in the house since we've been here."
"Klaus is a snob when it comes to alcohol," Caroline added.
"I swear, as soon as we leave this hotel from hell, I'm buying an entire case of this and I'm going to drink it on your lawn," Damon said.
"By all means," Klaus nodded, "just as long as you're out of my house."
"But no garbage left out there!" Caroline declared.
After an hour of exchanging presents, Caroline was pacing. She was pacing and her husband was doing a damn good job of ignoring her.
"All right, that's the last one, Nik," Rebekah finally spoke up. "Give Caroline what she wants. "
"Okay," he agreed. "Everyone out."
"What?" Rebekah exclaimed. "We don't get to see it?"
"Is it dirty?" Damon wondered mischievously.
"Damon!" Elena cried as she pushed him out of the room, following everyone else.
Once they were gone, Klaus took Caroline's hands and sat her down on the couch. Without a word, he disappeared down the long hallway and was gone for several agonizing moments before returning with a large gift-wrapped box.
"Oh, my God," she breathed as he set it down on the floor in front of her. "Wait, are those holes?" She looked at him excitedly. "Is this what I think it is?"
Klaus shrugged playfully. "You'll have to see."
She ripped off the paper with her vamp speed and opened the box to reveal a perfect, tiny Siberian husky puppy, with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.
"Oh, Nik," she breathed, reaching in to hold it. "You got me a puppy just like you promised at our wedding."
"I've never had a dog," he admitted, sitting down beside her. "I had a horse but it was when I was human and their care was much different than a dog. I know nothing about taking care of them and I don't like going into something so blindly but I know it's what you've wanted and you know I have a hard time denying you anything."
Caroline hugged the puppy and giggled as it licked her nose. "It's so cute."
"He," Klaus corrected. "This dog is a he. When he's full-grown, he'll protect you, too."
"Well, for right now, I want to appreciate him as a little ball of fluff," she replied. "We should name him Henry, after Henrik. It's a strong name and if we could have children, I'd have wanted to name them after your siblings who have passed away so this is the closest we can get."
"Henry," Klaus said, testing it out. The dog clumsily crawled over to him. "Well, I suppose he likes it."
"I think he just likes you," Caroline replied, "like his mommy does." She kissed Klaus softly, holding Henry between them. "Merry Christmas, Klaus."
Klaus kissed her again before pressing his forehead to hers while patting Henry's head. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart."