Lucy stormed into Roxie's house and slapped her hard across the face. "What is your problem?" She snapped. "You just can't leave things well enough alone, can you?"

Roxie looked up, her hand on her reddening cheek. "Why did you just hit me?" She asked.

"Why do you think?" Lucy asked, breathing hard. "Because I'm pissed off and it's your fault! You told me you were gonna keep what happened between Damon and me quiet, but you didn't! And now, you know what I just did? I let Dad and Uncle Elijah beat the crap out of Damon and I didn't do a thing to stop them!"

"And that's my fault...how?" Roxie asked.

"Well, who else would have told them?" Lucy asked. "It sure as hell wasn't me!"

"Okay, I might have told Dad," Roxie said. "But really, I'm doing you a favor!"

"A wha-a favor?" Lucy managed to spit out. "How so?"

"This thing with Damon, you're not old enough for it yet," Roxie said. "Now he's just an older guy that has you spellbound and you're willing to follow him without question even though let's face it, he doesn't really care about you as much as you'd like. He only pays attention to you because Mom is slowly going out of reach. If you're going to be with him, you have to grow up first."

Lucy looked at her in surprise. "That's kind of perceptive," she said. "How do you know that?"

"It happened to me once," Roxie told her. "I was the age you're supposed to be, Dad was dreaming of taking over the world, and once day he strolls into Enid's looking for people to make into hybrids. He made a few and was gonna turn Vince as well, but I wouldn't let him, and after that, I decided that I had to stay away from him."

"From Dad?" Lucy said in amazement. "But you were six years old! How could you make a choice like that? And more importantly, why would Mom allow it?"

"I made the choice because Vince was my friend and I didn't want to see him be hurt," Roxie said. "And as for Mom, if you haven't figured it out by now, Mom really doesn't like me, so I think any choice to send me away was a no-brainer for her." Roxie scoffed.

"Oh, I'm sure that's an exaggeration," Lucy said. "I bet Mom likes you. In her own way."

Just then, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Roxie said. She went and opened the door to let Klaus in. "Is your sister here?" Klaus asked.

"Nice to see you too, Daddy," Roxie said. "And yes, she is."

Roxie led him to Lucy and he surveyed his younger daughter with narrowed eyes. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I'm angry with you right now," he said.

"With me?" Lucy asked. "What did I do?"

"I think he means you and Damon," Roxie said in a stage whisper.

"That's exactly why," Klaus said. "You can't forget that in spite of the spell, you're only six years old. Not responsible enough to be living on your own. Therefore, you have three choices: You can either live with me, Roxie, or Adrian."

"What about Mom and Uncle Elijah?" Lucy asked.

Klaus shook his head. "If you think I'm going to let you go live with the woman who deliberately got you into this mess, you're sorely mistaken. So who will it be? Me, Adrian or Roxanne?"

Before Lucy could respond, Roxie said quickly, "I'll do it, Daddy. I'll take good care of her."

Klaus came back home and found Caroline waiting expectantly by the front door. "So where's Lucy?" She asked. "I thought you said you were gonna bring Lucy back."

"Well, do you see Lucy?" Klaus asked.

"No," Caroline said. "I don't. So could it be you actually listened to me when I told you to let Lucy handle her problems on her own?"

Klaus scoffed. "Of course not, Caroline. Elijah and I went to Damon's house and throttled him within an inch of his life, and then I told Lucy she had to live under the supervision of me or her brother or sister."

"You did not!" Caroline said. "That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard! Why would you dothat?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Klaus asked. "By sneaking around with Damon behind my back, Lucy has proven she's not mature enough to live on her own yet."

"So who's she living with?" Caroline asked flatly. "Adrian, or Roxie?"

"Roxanne said she'd take her in," Klaus said.

"And how is that better than the situation Lucy was in before?" Caroline asked. "In fact, now things will probably be worse! Do you even know what Roxie is up to anymore?"

"You just need to relax, Caroline," Klaus said. "You're not family. This is none of your business!"

"How am I not family?" Caroline asked. "I was married to Lucy's mother's cousin, for god's sake! Yeah, it's a little distant, but it still counts, so I am going to march over to Roxie's and tell Lucy to come live with us."

"Take your hand off the doorhandle, Caroline," he said. "You aren't going to leave here."

"Oh, yes I am!" Caroline said. "What will you do to stop me?"

He looked at her resentfully for a moment, then grabbed her free hand, pulled her away from the door, and kissed her hard.
Caroline pushed him away and slapped him. Then they stood in silence, staring at each other and breathing hard. Then she pulled him to her and kissed him again. She pushed off his jacked and he pulled off her shirt. She began walking him backwards from the door until they fell onto the sofa, still kissing each other furiously. He pushed her against the cushion, his hand going up her thigh and paused.

"What's the matter?" Caroline asked. "Why are you stopping?"

"I can't do this here," he said. He picked her up, carried her to his room and put her on his bed.

"Now are we good?" Caroline asked.

He nodded. "Yes, we're good." He continued to kiss her and soon, he was only wearing his boxers and a tie and she was naked. He leaned down and began kissing down her neck and stomach. She moaned and said, "Keep going."

He did and soon they were rolling around the bed, knocking a lamp off the bedside table, and then finally, he drove into her and she let out a scream that brought pounding footsteps to the door, along with a knock. "Is everything okay in there?" Jake called.

"Yeah," Caroline called dazedly. "Everything's fine."

"Caroline?" Selina said in surprise when she opened the front door and saw her friend on the other side. "What brings you here? Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Caroline said, striding in. "I'm fine. I just have something to tell you, and you might hate me, but I feel that you have the right to know."

"What is it?" Selina asked. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Caroline shook her head. "It's just that-" She flushed a deep scarlet.

"Spit it out!" Selina ordered. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad!"

"Klaus and I had sex!" Caroline burst out. Then she gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"You and Nicky did what?" Selina asked. "Say that again."

"Please don't make me," Caroline said. "It was hard enough to say it once."

"Did you really say that you and Nicky had sex?" Selina asked. Her eyes were shining and her grin was wide. "Is that good? Should I be happy for you?"

"You mean you aren't mad at me?" Caroline asked in surprise.

"Why would I be?" Selina asked. "Nicky and I aren't together anymore. He can be with whomever he wants, and if that person is you, I'm okay with it. I have my own life, Caroline. You don't have to worry about me."

Caroline let out a breath. "Good! Because I was going to tell you that we didn't exactly plan on it, but he didn't want me messing with his plans for Lucy and he had the gall to tell me that I wasn't allowed any say on what happened to her because I technically wasn't family, and then I said I was gonna leave and go find Lucy anyway, and when he tried to pull my hand off the doorknob, well..."

"It's okay," Selina said. "In fact, I should thank you. That's one less guy for me to worry about. Now if only I could get a girlfriend, or at least a sex buddy for Damon, everything would be perfect."

"Damon already had a sex buddy," Caroline said. "That's where all the trouble started."

Selina nodded ruefully. "Yep, that's true. And more than just trouble for Lucy. It's not like I came out of this unscathed either."

"What did you do?" Caroline asked.

"It's not what I did," Selina said. "It's what I didn't do. Elijah's mad at me for not telling him about Damon and Lucy as soon as I found out, but I found out around the same time he did, so it's not like I was keeping anything from him!"

"Are you banished to the sofa?" Caroline asked.

"No," Selina said. "Probably not. But I almost wish I was. That would make things easier."

"Compared to what?" Caroline asked.

Selina sighed. "I have a feeling that even though Elijah and I will be in the same bed, he won't want to talk to me or touch me or anything. Just face away from me. That's hardest."

"Just give him time to cool down and then talk to him," Caroline said. "I bet you'll be able to make him see the truth."

Just then, they heard a cry. "Who's that?" Caroline asked.

"Gregory," Selina said. "Want to meet him?"

"Is Gregory a person?" Caroline asked.

Selina nodded. "Elijah's and my son," she said. "He's a sweet kid." She led Caroline up to Gregory's room and found him in his crib. "What are you doing in here?" She asked, picking him up. "I thought you were with your daddy."

Gregory just gave her a look and then studied Caroline over her shoulder.

"He's got an intense look, doesn't he?" Caroline said.

Selina nodded. "Makes it hard for me to try and be sneaky with cookie dough and sweets, let me tell you." She put him down on the floor on his stomach and got on her knees in front of him.

He watched her for a moment and then she put her hands over her eyes and took them away again. Instead of looking excited or intrigued, he just looked underwhelmed. Selina tried again. Same look.

"He doesn't do peek-a-boo, does he?" Caroline asked.

"No," Selina shook her head. "And I've tried lots of times, believe me I have. But every time, he just looks at me like I'm crazy or something. Oh, well." She went and got the bubbles and blew them. That got his attention. He reached up and popped one and it made him start. His lip quivered and he started to cry.

"It's okay," Selina said, picking him up. "The bubble went away, but there are more, see?" She wiped his eyes and asked Caroline to blow some more bubbles.

"Bok!" He said brightly.

"I can never remember if that means 'block' or 'book'," Selina said. She tried book first and he didn't take to it, so she grabbed a set of clear plastic blocks with colored letters and numbers on them and spread them out all over the floor. Gregory put his hand on the letter 'g', rolling it around on the floor.

"He likes that one," Selina said. "Much more than the others. Maybe it's 'cause he already knows what his name starts with."

"Could be," Caroline said. "That could very well be." They spent the rest of the afternoon going over letter blocks with Gregory until Caroline looked out the window and saw that it was almost dark. "I should probably get going," she said. "But I had a good time today."

"Me too," Selina said. "I hope we can do it again."

"And about tonight," Caroline said to her, "everything will be all right, I promise."

"Thanks," Selina said. "I'll do my best to get through it."

She did, but it was difficult, as was the night after that. The third night, Selina decided she had had enough and got out of bed at two in the morning to go sleep somewhere else, but as she tried to stealthily sneak out of the room, she felt a hand on her waist in the dark.

"Where are you going?" Elijah asked.

"There are lots of places I could be going," Selina said. "Like the bathroom. If that's the case, delaying me is not a smart idea."

"Are you going to the bathroom?" Elijah asked.

Selina turned on the light and shook her head. "No. I was going to sleep in Gregory's room since it's no good sleeping with you."

"And whose fault is that?" Elijah asked. "Who started this whole mess?"

"I may have started it, but you're the one who's making it into much more than it needs to be," Selina said huffily. "Damon hurt Lucy. She got mad. You found out. You got mad. You got to beat Damon up. That should be the end of it. I don't see why we need to drag it on anymore."

"I'm not mad because of Damon," he said. "Well, I am, but that's only part of it. I'm mad because you didn't tell me once you found out about it and I had to hear it from Niklaus and Roxanne. What did you think you would gain by keeping it from me?"

"I didn't think I would gain anything," Selina told him. "I found out about it the same day you did. That's why you didn't hear about it before."

"If you would have found out before then, would you have told me?" Elijah asked.

"Well, maybe," Selina said, not meeting his eyes. "Or not."

"See?" Elijah said. "This is why I'm mad at you! Because you'd keep something this important from me!" He turned away from her and went back toward the bed. "Maybe it's best if you do sleep in Gregory's room for the rest of the night."

"I wouldn't tell you because I don't like it when you're grumpy like this," Selina said. "That's something to avoid at all costs, and if I can handle a situation without making you angry, then I will! You should thank me for that!"

Elijah turned. "Thank you? For what? Lying to me? Selina, you and I are married now, which means that we don't keep things from each other, even if they're unpleasant. I understand why you want to stop me from being unhappy, but it's impossible to never be unhappy. Sometimes, you will have to tell me things that will make me unhappy, and I'll have to do the same for you, but then we will work through them together and they'll be taken care of. You shouldn't have to handle things like this by yourself. I raised Lucy just as much as you did, and by virtue of that, I was involved in her life. I have a right to know if she's in trouble or hurt, or-"

"Would it make you feel better if I reminded you that Nicky was as clueless about Lucy's situation as you were?" Selina asked meekly. "So it's not like I thought Nicky was more deserving of the knowledge than you were because he's her biological father. I realized you both have the same fatherly feelings toward her, and that neither of you would have a sane reaction to the news about Damon. Doesn't that count for something?"

Elijah looked at her big blue eyes and sighed. "I suppose," he said.

She held out her arms hopefully. "Hug?"

He pretended to think about it, then sighed. "Oh, all right," he said, grinning. "I suppose I could manage that."

"Yay!" She said and practically threw herself into his arms. They got back into bed, this time facing one another. He reached over and pushed a piece of hair out of her eyes and she kissed his hand. "I don't like it when we fight," she said. "But I like it afterward." She leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed her back and soon they were rolling around under the covers and by the time they resurfaced, the sun was up and they were both panting hard and in need of a shower.

"I don't see what good it will do you," Stefan said to Damon several weeks later as he watched his brother pen another note to Lucy that he knew would go unanswered. "You've written around twenty of those and she hasn't responded to a single one! Just leave it alone and find some way to distract yourself."

"Like how, Stefan?" Damon asked. "Like how?"

"I don't know," Stefan said. "But may I say, anything else would be better than this. It's making you look desperate and pathetic."

"Is not," Damon said as his pen seemed to run out of ink. He growled and began pushing it back and forth against the paper. "Damn you, stupid pen! Why don't you write?"

"You need to get out of the house!" Anna said to Damon as she snatched his pen away. "And I'm not just saying that because Stefan and I haven't gotten a moment's peace since you walked through our door."

"Every time I try to find something to distract myself, it fails!" Damon complained. He turned on the radio and Rick Springfield's "Jesse's Girl" filled the room. "See?" He snapped. "I told you!"

"I don't see what the problem is," Anna said. "Sure it's kind of a lame song, but it's also catchy."

"Think about how easily I could turn Jesse into Jason!" Damon said. "It's like Rick Springfield is speaking to me!"

Anna snatched the pad of paper away from him, leaving a long black trail of ink because he'd finally gotten the pen to work. "Hey!" Damon said. "I was using that!"

"We know," Anna said. "Good god, do we know."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Hopefully, it's a distraction," Anna opened the door and a young man wearing a floppy hat trimmed with lace and fake flowers and an apron fell through the front door. "Adam?" Anna said. "Is that you?"

He looked up and nodded. "Help me!" He breathed. "Please, just help me!"

Stefan looked him over. "With your fashion sense? Of course! And not a moment too soon, it looks like."

"I didn't choose to dress this way!" Adam stood up. "It was all Lenora's doing!"

Stefan tried not to laugh. "Lenora? You let yourself be bossed around by a little girl?"

"She's got powers," Adam said darkly. "Don't forget that." He sniffed. "And she has this cat, and I'm allergic to them. I told her that, but did she listen? No. She set Snowball down right next to me..."

Just then, they heard a pop! and Lenora appeared. "There you are, Mrs. Nesbitt!" She said. "Why did you run away from the tea party?" She grabbed his arm. "Come on!" She said. "We're going home!"

"Lenora," Anna said, "Why don't you just let him stay here and I'll come be with you at your tea party?"

"Because he's Mrs. Nesbitt!" Lenora said. "I can't have a party without Mrs. Nesbitt!"

Anna looked at Adam for a moment, then grabbed the hat off his head and put it on herself. "There!" she said. "Now can I be Mrs. Nesbitt?"

Lenora surveyed her thoughtfully for a moment. "All right!" She said at last. "Come on!"

Once they were gone, Adam stood up. "Well, thank god for that," he said. "I've been waiting for an opportunity to get away from her."

"I can't look at this anymore," Stefan said and pulled the apron off. "There. That's much better." He began walking around Adam. "What else can we do with you?"

"Why would you want to do anything with me?" Adam asked confusedly.

"Don't you want to be more than just a four-year-old's playmate?" Stefan asked. "Don't you want to get someone your own age interested in you?"

"That would be nice," Adam nodded. "But look at me. I'm not exactly chick magnet material."

"That's true," Stefan said. "But we can work on that. Can't we, Damon?" He asked his brother.

Damon turned and looked Adam over. "I suppose," he said, making note of Adam's coal-black trousers and plain white shirt. "But it might take awhile. Do you have any other clothes?"

"Well, that's kind of a stupid question," Adam said. "May I remind you that I've been a dog for who knows how many years and dogs don't usually wear clothes. Unless you're stuck living with Lenora and she makes you play fashion show and you have to wear a little pink tutu and a crown..." His hands tensed into fists at the memory and he gnashed his teeth.

"Stefan," Damon said, clapping Adam on the back, "I don't think we should start with clothes. I think we should start with alcohol. Lots and Lots of alcohol. I'm sure Sparky here has lots of memories he'd like to forget."

Adam looked like he wanted to hug Damon, but just settled for saying "Oh, bless you."

"Remind me what this place is again?" Lucy asked Roxie as they walked into Enid's that evening.

"It's where I work," Roxie said.

"I didn't know you had a job," Lucy said. "Good for you!"

"Don't get too excited," Roxie said. "I didn't choose to work here. Mom arranged it. She thought it would teach me some responsibility."

"And did it?" Lucy asked.

Roxie shook her head. "Not really."

"Well, if you don't like it, then why do you keep doing it?" Lucy asked.

As they approached the bar, Roxie saw that Vince was standing on a ladder with his back to them, dusting off one of the higher shelves that held the alchol. "I didn't say I didn't like it," Roxie said, sitting down at the bar and staring intensely at Vince's butt. "It does have some benefits!"

Just then, Vince turned around. "There you are!" he said and got down off the ladder. "I wasn't sure if you were gonna come in tonight."

"You know," Roxie said, boosting herself over the bar, "I have to say that it really hurts that you don't have more faith in me. I take my responsibilities very seriously."

"Yeah," Vince smirked. "Right." He turned toward Lucy. "And who are you? I don't believe we've met."

Roxie punched him on the arm. "Stop flirting with her! She's had enough of that!"

"I wasn't!" Vince said. "I was just saying 'hello'!"

"Well, all right then," Roxie said. "Sorry. Vince, this is my sister, Lucy. Lucy, this is Vince. He's the guy who lives with me. Or us, rather."

"'Us'?" Vince asked. "Would you care to explain?"

"Lucy has to live with us because she got screwed by Mom's ex-husband and it made Dad upset," Roxie said. "Is that all right with you?"

"Would it matter if it wasn't?" Vince asked.

"No," Roxie shook her head. "Not really."

"I did not get screwed by Mom's ex-husband. Stop saying it like that!" Lucy said irritably.

"You did," Roxie said. "If there's a more poetic way to phrase it than that, let me know." She looked at the clock. "It's almost nine. We have to get ready for the after-dinner crowd."

"What sort of place is this?" Lucy asked.

"A bar," Roxie said and stuck a stick of gum in her mouth.

Lucy's eyes widened. "I can't be in a bar!" She exclaimed. "I'm not old enough!"

"Oh, calm down!" Roxie said. "Enid won't get mad at you. Hell, Adrian was born right where I'm standing."

"He was not!" Lucy said.

"Was too!" Roxie replied. "Our family's got a long history here. It was my home for ten years. So no one will kick you out. You don't have to worry."

"What kind of place is this?" Lucy asked. "I mean, I know it's a bar, but what kind of people come in here?"

"Werewolves, mainly," Vince said. "Active ones at that. Inactive ones usually can't find it. I mean, other species come in here occasionally, but that's frowned upon unless they're with a regular."

"Wait..." Lucy said. "So you're saying werewolves come in here? A lot? Because I have this friend from school, his name is Jason, and he turned awhile ago. I should bring him here. It would probably help him."

Just then, the clock chimed nine and the door opened, and Ronan strode in. "Ah, good!" He said. "You're both here!" Lucy turned around on her stool, her eyes widening. "It's Roxie's fault I'm in a bar!" She said quickly. "Please don't yell at me! I didn't know this is where we were coming!"

Ronan gave her a look. "Calm down!" He said. "What's the matter with you?"

"She must think you're our father," Roxie said. "She's terrified about Dad finding her here."

"Well, look what happened last time I did something to make him unhappy!" Lucy said. "I got stuck living with you!"

"You could have lived with Adrian, but that would have been even worse for you," Roxie said. "He'd be just as bad as Dad, trust me."

Lucy studied Ronan. "If you're not my dad, then who are you? You really do look a lot like him."

"That's Dad's dad," Roxie said. "Ronan, meet Lucy. She's the baby of the family."

Ronan looked Lucy over. "I thought you were only supposed to be a little thing! What's happend to you?"

"I got on the bad side of a witch and this is the result," Lucy said. "Technically, I'm only six years old."

Ronan nodded. "Well, that makes as much sense as anything, I suppose." He looked at her. "Do you want a soda?"

"Okay," Lucy said. "Thanks."

Ronan handed her a can and said, "I wonder if I'll get any more surprises tonight."

About half past midnight, the door opened again and Klaus ambled in with a grin on his face and sat down at the bar.

"You look happy," Ronan said to him. "Can I get you anything?"

"Any champagne back there?" Klaus asked and as Ronan pulled it out, Roxie came up behind her father. "What's the champagne for?" She asked. "Are you celebrating something?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," Klaus said to her. "And I don't want to hear anything negative come out of your mouth."

"Well, what is it?" Ronan asked.

Klaus cleared his throat. "For the past...very long time, I have been roommates with a woman named Caroline and we finally decided to make our relationship official. I asked her and she's consented to live with me as more than just my roommate."

"How long has this been going on?" Roxie asked.

"Oh, for a couple of months," Klaus said.

Roxie's lip curled. "Well, it's nice you were able to pull yourself out of bed long enough to dress and come and share that with us," she said. She threw the dish towel she was holding down on the floor and stomped out of the bar.

"I'll go deal with her," Vince said to Klaus. "You just keep celebrating."

"I'm sure she's glad for you," Ronan said to Klaus. "How she's acting, that's just her way."

"Yes," Klaus said. "I wasn't expecting anything else from her."

Then he noticed Lucy. "And how about you?" He asked her. "Are you mad at me too?"

"No," Lucy shook her head. "I like Caroline. I'm happy for you."