Selina looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember a girl named Mary Anne?" Elijah said. "Did you know her, or was Aleksandr incorrect?"

Selina was silent for a moment, then sighed. "I did know a Mary Anne, but it was during my dark period and I was horrible to her. The Mary Anne years aren't something I like to think about."

"Well, she's around," Elijah said. "I can take you to see her if you want so you can tell her you're sorry."

Selina immediately shook her head. "No, no! Whatever you do, don't do that! At least not now. I'll do it later, on my own time, I promise."

"All right," Elijah said. Then he looked at her curiously. "What do you mean by your 'dark period'?"

Selina sucked in a breath. "Remember when we were on the boat and you saw me kill those people? There was a time when I did that a lot. It was when Nicky and I were together in the twenties and just a phase, I swear. Aleksandr had left me and I spent almost fifty years without a real, long-term relationship. The only real contact I had with other people was when my son brought his wife and kids over to my house to visit 'Grandma'. I mean, for god's sake, wouldn't you want to kill people too, if that's the image you had for yourself for half a century? I mean, it's bad enough that one man thought me undesirable, but so did all the other men of marrying age that were around me when they found out I had grandkids when I looked eighteen! They avoided me like the plague! They thought I was crazy! They-"

"All right, all right," Elijah put a hand up. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I don't want to upset you."

Selina took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you," she said. "I think I'll go get dressed now and take Sam back home." She gave him a quick peck on the lips, got out of bed and dressed, then left the room to go look for Alistair.

"Hello," Alistair looked at Selina in surprise. "How are you feeling? The frog is gone, I see."

Selina grinned. "Yes, the frog is gone and I'm much better, thank you. I just came to see if you wanted me to take Sam off your hands."

Alistair shrugged. "I suppose, if you want to. But he seems to be having a good time." They saw Sam with his hands on a toy piano keyboard with different-colored keys. He was pounding away on it, making as much noise as possible.

"What are you playing, Sammy?" Selina asked, sitting down next to him. "Will you play me something?"

Sam stopped playing for a moment and gave his mother a grin, then climbed into her lap and resumed pounding on the keys. "Very good!" Selina said, hugging him after he was finished. Then she looked up and saw Lucy toddling toward her, attempting to keep her grip on a picture book that was almost too big for her.

"Come here," Selina said. "Let me help you, Lucy-loo." Still holding onto Sam, Selina stood up and made her way toward Lucy, gently removing the book from her grasp. Lucy let out a howl and reached for it again.

"I'll give it back," Selina said. "I just don't want you to get hurt carrying it." She put it on a tiny rocking chair in the corner of the room, an old one made of wood and covered with white fabric with blue flowers. "Try sitting here," Selina told her. "This'll be a comfy reading spot for you."

Lucy gave the chair a discerning glance and after a few moments, decided it was acceptable. She placed the book on the floor, sat down, and then picked it up again and put it in her lap. She was "reading" contentedly while Selina played with Sam. Suddenly, Selina gasped.

"What?" Alistair asked. "Selina, what's the matter?"

"Look at him!" Selina said, looking worried. "He's covered in red spots!" She held Sam up for Alistair's inspection. Sam was beginning to squirm uncomfortably.

"Chicken pox," Selina and Alistair said at the same time. Selina sighed. "I better take him back to Damon's, so that everybody knows what's going on, and see if Damon needs my help. A sick kid can be tricky, especially if you have no idea what the hell you're doing."

"What can I do?" Alistair asked her.

"You stay here with Lucy," Selina said.

"All right," Alistair nodded.

Selina carried Sam back to her and Elijah's bedroom, opening the door just as Elijah was finishing tying up his tie. "My god," he said. "What's wrong with Sam?"

Selina sighed. "Looks like chicken pox. I'm going to take him to Damon's and then see if Damon needs my help. If he does, I might have to stay over at Damon's house for a few days. Is that all right with you?"

Elijah looked as if he were going to object, but then his expression changed. "Yes," he said. "I trust you. Do whatever you need to do to help Sam get through this."

Selina nodded. "Thank you for understanding," she said. She hugged Sam to her and hustled out of the bedroom. As Elijah looked after her, he wondered about the story she'd told him earlier, how she could ever have been mean enough to little Mary Anne to want to block the period out of her memory. Once he heard the front door close, he left the bedroom and called for Alistair.

"What is it?" Alistair asked.

"I need to go over to Niklaus' house," Elijah said. "I have to ask him about something to do with Selina, something that happened a long time ago."

"Well, I was around then too," Alistair said. "I could probably tell you whatever it is you want to know just as easily as Klaus could."

"Well, all right," Elijah nodded. "What can you tell me about a girl named Mary Anne? Selina told me that Mary Anne was around during what she called her 'dark period.' What do you know about that?"

"Oh, god," Alistair paled. "Mary Anne. She was an ordeal. I'll say that. There's not much more to say." Alistair looked away and then looked back. "Maybe we should go to Klaus'. He's the only one blunt enough to tell you the whole story, which I do think you need to know. But be prepared to hear things about Selina that don't put her in the most flattering light."

"Oh, I'm sure you're exaggerating," Elijah said. "Where's Lucy? We can't just leave her here."

Alistair smirked. "Reading in the playroom. But good luck getting her to stop. Selina found her a comfy little chair to sit in and she's acting like it's a throne. She won't leave it easily."

Elijah followed Alistair to the playroom and saw Lucy sitting in the rocking chair. He got down on the floor next to her and said, "Want to come with us? We're going on a trip."

Lucy looked up at him for a moment and shook her head. "No."

Elijah tried again. "We're going to see your father. Won't that be fun?"

Lucy shook her head again. "No. Book."

"Let me try," Alistair said. "You'll get to see your teddy bear, Lucy. Don't you like your teddy bear?"

Lucy paused and looked up at him. "Teddy. I want Teddy."

"Well, all right then," Alistair said. Lucy put her book down and lifted up her arms for him to pick her up. Then the three of them left the house and headed for Klaus' so Elijah could learn about Mary Anne.

"All right, Sammy," Selina walked up the front steps to Damon's house and stuck her key in the front door, giving it a turn and pushing the door open. "Let's get you in bed and slather some lotion on you. It'll make you not so itchy." She lay him in his bed and slathered him with itch-fighting lotion that she'd picked up at the store on the way and then went to look for Damon.

"In here," he called when she passed a bathroom.

"Is it all right for me to come in?" She called back. "Or are you busy? I mean, not that that matters in this case, because I really need to talk to you about Sam and I want to give you time to cover up if you need it."

"Oh, who cares about that?" Damon asked. "What have I got that you haven't seen? I mean really?"

Selina rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "Just be that way." She opened the bathroom door and strode in. Damon was in the bathtub, sitting with an empty space next to him as though he wasn't entirely alone in the bath.

"Who's bathing with you?" Selina asked. "Somebody nice?"

Damon nodded. "Yeah, Wendy. She still kind of thinks you're crazy, by the way. So, what brings you over here?"

"Sam," Selina said, sitting on the toilet. "He has the chicken pox. I slathered him with lotion to stem the itching, but I doubt that'll last, and he'll probably have a fever soon. Geez, I never had to go through this with any of my other kids."

Damon smirked. "Yeah, with all your other kids, it was fleas, ticks and heartworm, wasn't it?"

"Ha ha," Selina said and got off the toilet and splashed him. Damon grabbed her wrist. "Don't start that unless you want me to pull you in here with me," he said. "And don't think I won't."

"I don't think you will," she said. "What would Wendy say?"

Just then the bathroom door opened. "What would Wendy say about what?" Wendy said as she stepped further into the bathroom. "What's going on in here?" She wore a bathrobe and a quizzical expression.

Damon let go of Selina's wrist and turned to face Wendy. "Selina just brought Sam back," he said. "Sam has the chicken pox."

"Oh." Wendy looked guilty. "Allison just got over hers, so I can give you three guesses where Sam picked it up from."

Selina shrugged. "It had to happen sometime. And I hear it gets worse if you get it when you're older, so I guess now is as good a time as any for him to catch it if he has to." She got off the toilet, looking at Damon. "So do you want me to come over and help you sometimes? I can, if you don't think you can handle a sick kid all by yourself."

"Well, thanks," Damon told her. "If I need your help, I'll give you a call." Selina nodded. "I put his anti-itch lotion on his dresser and you might want to clip his nails so it'll be harder for him to scratch at his rash."

"Relax," Wendy said. "We can take care of it. You just go about your business and don't worry."

"Thank you, Wendy," Selina nodded. "That's very comforting to know." She left the house, feeling something like dislike for Wendy roiling around in her stomach.

"Well this is a surprise," Klaus said when he opened the door and saw Alistair, Lucy and Elijah on the other side. "What brings the three of you here?"

"Daddy!" Lucy said, reaching out for Klaus. "Where's Teddy?"

"Roxie doesn't have it, does she?" Alistair asked. "It's the only way we could get Lucy away from her book and we couldn't leave her at the house by herself."

Klaus shook his head. "I have it. I'll go get it." He got Lucy her bear and when they were all settled on sofas in the living room, Klaus held Lucy to himself and asked, "So why is it that you're here? The real reason?"

"I want to know about Mary Anne," Elijah said. "Who is she? What went on between her and Selina?"

"Why would you want to know?" Klaus asked. "How did that come up?"

"Aleksandr's met her," Elijah said. "I went to visit him and found him talking to a girl he called Mary Anne. She asked about a woman named Sera and Aleksandr said that Sera was someone he was married to, and as fair as I know, the only person Aleksandr's ever been married to was Selina and she told me that they didn't get along, so what happened?"

"I can't believe you asked Selina about Mary Anne," Klaus said. "It's a sore point for her."

"Yes, she mentioned that," Elijah nodded. "Could you tell me anything else?"

"Well, Selina didn't want Mary Anne to come and live with us," Klaus said. "She told me that she'd come to Europe to have fun and didn't want to waste time looking after a child, so-" He paused. "Wait. Did you tell me you saw Mary Anne? Where is she?"

"Focus, please, Niklaus," Elijah told him. "This is important!"

"Okay, okay," Klaus said. "From the first minute we brought Mary Anne home, she and Selina had issues..."

"Here's where you'll sleep," Selina dropped blankets on a mattress in the attic, and gave the little dark eyed girl a glare. "And there's a candle for if you have to go to the bathroom. Don't drop it though. I know how clumsy you are."

"All right," Mary Anne said quietly. Selina nodded, then closed the curtains of the solitary attic window and went downstairs. "She's all settled in," she told Klaus when she found him. "What do you want to do now?"

"Where did you put her?" Klaus asked. "I want to go tell her goodnight."

"She's up in the attic," Selina said. "That's not much of a problem, is it? It'll mean fewer interruptions from the runt."

Klaus gave her a scathing look and then headed upstairs.

"That wasn't very nice, you know," Alistair chided Selina. "And I would think that based on your own past with Robert Pierce, you'd be the last person to treat someone the way you're treating Mary Anne. You were in her place once. You know what that's like."

"And if she were actually my child, that would be different," Selina said. "But she's not. She should be lucky that she even has a roof over her head! The orphanages aren't so kind to the children that get brought inside their walls. They aren't very nice places to live, Alistair."

"And how is this better?" Alistair asked, following her to the kitchen. "You can't act like this forever. I won't let you."

"How will you stop me?" Selina asked.

"I didn't want to have to do this," Alistair said. "But I'm afraid you've forced my hand." Using his magic, he caused Selina to have such a terrible pain in her head that she collapsed into a chair and begged him to stop.

"Now," Alistair said, "Give her a better room, the one next to you and Klaus'. And apologize to her. I'm going to come with you to see that you do."

Selina glared at him and as they made their way toward the attic, they met Klaus coming down with Mary Anne. "I'm moving Mary Anne into the room next to ours," he told Selina. "I'm sure your putting her in the attic was only an oversight, wasn't?"

"Yes," Selina rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said to Mary Anne.

"You don't mean that," Mary Anne said. "Say it like you mean it."

Selina looked as if she wanted to deliver a scathing retort, but didn't. Instead, she raised her hand and gave Mary Anne a good, hard slap before striding away from the three of them, muttering curse words under her breath.

"She hurt a child?" Elijah asked. "I don't believe that. You're lying!"

"No, I'm not!" Klaus said insistently. "Am I lying, Alistair?"

"Unfortunately no," Alistair said. "And that was just the beginning." He looked at Elijah apologetically. "I warned you before we came that you'd hear things about Selina that would put her in a bad light."

"Well, I don't want to hear anymore," Elijah said. "I don't want to hear any more of your lies. You two keep Lucy. I need to have some time alone to gather my thoughts." He strode from the house and Klaus turned to Alistair. "So do you want to move back here?" He asked. "I don't think you'll be a welcome guest at Elijah's much longer."

"That might be best," Alistair nodded. "I'll move my things back into my old room tonight."

"Mom?" Roxie opened the penthouse door. "What are you doing here?"

"We have to talk," Selina strode inside. "I need your advice."

"You want my advice?" Roxie asked, an eyebrow going up. "What for?"

Selina sighed and sat down on the sofa. "Well, let's say I did something really bad a long time ago, but I haven't told your uncle about it. I think I should though, cause he is a big fan of honesty in relationships, and I think that includes the bad stuff. So, how do you break the news to Vince when you do bad things?"

Roxie shrugged. "I just tell him the truth. He's know me long enough to know that I will occasionally do bad things and there's nothing he can do about it. Doesn't Uncle Elijah feel the same way about you?"

Selina scoffed. "No. In his eyes, I have this little halo and wings and I can never do anything wrong."

"So tell him everything," Roxie said. "Don't hold anything back. Heck, even add in some bad stuff that you didn't do, just to see how much he'll swallow."

"Oh, that's ridiculous," Selina said. "I can't do that!"

"Well, you did ask my advice," Roxie said. "But on a more serious note, just unburden yourself, be totally honest, and if he doesn't believe it, then that's his problem, not yours, isn't it?"

"You know, you're right," Selina said. "I never thought of it that way."

Roxie grinned. "That's what I'm here for. Now for my question: How do you feel about Dad being interested in your friend Caroline? Are you jealous?"

"She dated my father years ago when she was still human and in school, and I think if I can deal with that, I can deal with her and your father." Selina said. "In fact, I think she might be good for him." Seeing the look on Roxie's face, Selina said, "I know seeing your parents with other people is hard, but it's just something that you're going to have to deal with, okay?"

"Fine," Roxie said. "I won't hurt her, I promise."

"Fancy meeting you here," Caroline looked up from the bench she was sitting in at the park when she heard the voice. "Hello," she said. She moved down the bench a little when she saw that it was Klaus and Lucy. "You can have a seat if you want."

"Thank you," he said, giving her a grin. He let Lucy run off and play with a group of kids, and then turned back to Caroline. "I have to say that I really am sorry for your loss," he said. "Losing someone you love can't be easy."

Caroline shook her head, avoiding Klaus' eyes. "It's hard, but I'm dealing."

"Why won't you look at me?" Klaus asked. "Did Selina tell you not to? Did she say I was dangerous? Or evil?"

Caroline shook her head. "She said that you could be a bit much sometimes. That's all she said. But I'm really not feeling like I want to date anyone right now. Tyler just died. It's too soon."

"I can wait," he said. "I will wait. But even if you just need someone to talk to, I'll be happy to listen."

Caroline looked at his handsome face and then at his daughter who was running around after some ducks. She seemed to like him, so he couldn't be all bad.

Just then, Lucy let out a shriek as a bigger boy snatched her bear away, threw it on the ground and stomped it into the dirt. Then he spat on it, causing Lucy to burst into tears.

Klaus watched this exchange with narrowed eyes. "Excuse me," he said to Caroline. He strode over to the two kids and pulled Lucy away, handing her her bear, then taking her back to the bench and sitting her in Caroline's lap. "Take her back to your car, please," he said to her. "I have some business to attend to."

Caroline looked at him uncertainly for a moment, then took Lucy back to her car. Once they were gone, Klaus the boy up by his collar and brought him up to the highest point on the jungle gym and threw him off it. He landed in the sidewalk, his neck broken. Or at least that's what it seemed like. But just to be absolutely sure he was dead, Klaus put his foot on the boy's throat and stomped on his larynx, then spat on the boy's face, before burying him up to his neck in the sand under the jungle gym and compelling the other three kids who were climbing on it not to say a word about it to their parents.

"How are things here?" Klaus said to Caroline. "Is Lucy okay?"

Caroline shook her head. "Still really upset. What do you think we should do?"

Klaus grinned. "Did you just say 'we'?"

"Well, I'm involved now," Caroline said. "I saw Lucy's bear get stomped into the dirt by that kid and I can't just walk away, now can I?" She paused. "But this is not a date or anything like that. We're just two people trying to help a little girl feel better."

"Oh, exactly," Klaus nodded. "And as far as that is concerned, do you have any suggestions?"

Caroline thought a moment. "Well, there's a make-your-teddy-bear place at the mall. That might cheer her up. At least until we can get this other bear washed."

"There you go saying 'we' again," Klaus said, climbing into the car beside her. "I could get used to that."

"This is certainly colorful, isn't it?" Klaus asked as he and Lucy followed Caroline into the make-your-own-teddy-bear store.

"It is, isn't it?" Caroline said. "The types of bears are on this wall over here." She led Klaus over to a wall containing several types of bears. "What about this ballerina?" She asked, showing it to Lucy.

Lucy shook her head and pointed to one that was wearing pants, a shirt, vest and glasses. Caroline got it off the shelf and went to stuff it.

"How do you know about this place?" Klaus asked her.

"Oh, there's a neighbor girl we have that's obsessed with this place," Caroline said. "She wants me to bring her here all the time." Caroline finished stuffing the bear and got it closed up and paid for.

"What do we say to Caroline, Little Bit?" Klaus asked Lucy. Lucy looked shyly at Caroline, her eyes still shiny with unshed tears. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Caroline smiled. "You're welcome, sweetie."

Elijah was looking over the things in the folder his father had given him when he heard the office door open.

"Hello, friend," Selina said, and came to sit on his desk, just giving him enough time to move the folder away. "Whatcha lookin' at?" She saw the folder and grinned. "Are those more stories about me?" She asked. "You know you don't have to write those anymore," she said. "If you want a little attention, just say so." She came around and began kissing his neck.

"I can't do this now," he said apologetically. "I'm busy. Maybe later."

"You bet we'll be doing something later," she said. She started to walk away and then he sighed and shut the folder. "Just a minute," he said. She turned. "What is it?"

He strode toward her and backed her up against the wall, kissing her deeply. His hands went down her back and over her bottom while hers were tangled in his hair. Then he pulled off her shirt and ran his hands over her breasts. As he kissed under her jaw, she felt the hardness of his length against her thigh.

"Seems like you should take a break from work," she said. "I'll wait in the bedroom for you."

"No," reluctantly, he held her at arms' length and tried to calm himself down. "Can you leave now?" He asked. "Please? I have to look over everything in that folder and I can't be distracted."

Selina sighed. "Okay." As she left his office, she heard the doorbell ring. She went to open it and saw Klaus, Caroline and Lucy on the other side. "What's going on?" She asked after inviting them to come in.

"There was an incident at the park today," Klaus said, holding up Lucy's limp, dirty bear. "A miscreant did it, but I took care of him. Can you fix it?"

"Sure," Selina took it. "I'll see what I can do."

Caroline followed Selina to the laundry room. "We weren't on a date or anything," she said quickly. "Lucy was upset after her bear got wrecked and we were making her feel better."

Selina put a hand on Caroline's shoulder. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Caroline. Nicky and I are done. If you want to be around him, that's your choice. I won't stop you. You have my blessing."

"Okay," she said. "I just wanted to be sure. He said there's a restaurant around here that has a bunch of pretty art in it that he'd like to show me, so we're going to take Lucy and go."

Selina nodded. "Sounds fun. You three have a good time."

Once Caroline was gone, Selina threw Lucy's bear in the wash, but when it was dry, she went to pull it out and a loose thread in the bear's neck got caught, so when she got the bear out of the dryer, it was headless. Selina let out a terrific shriek and threw the bear into the sink on the opposite side of the laundry room. Then she took a deep breath, stared at it, and then for some reason, thoughts of Wendy taking care of Sam swam in her mind. She picked up the headless bear and with a growl ripped off its arms and legs too. Stuffing flew everywhere. Then, she heard a gasp. She turned around, holding the bear's torso in one hand. Elijah was standing just outside the laundry room with his hand on the doorframe.

"How much did you see?" She asked him.

"The whole thing," he said quietly.