Selina went into her bedroom and decided that she needed to change her clothes. The ones she was wearing were a bit rumpled. She opened her suitcase, took out an outfit, her hairbrush, and a CD, the soundtrack to "Dirty Dancing." She put the CD in the player and turned it to "You Don't Own Me," stripping off her clothes during the opening notes, and when the words started, she grabbed her hairbrush and began singing into it, dancing around the room in her panties and bra.

"I'm young and I love to be young, I'm free and I love to be free, to live my life the way I want, to say and do whatever I please!"

As she was singing, she noticed that her door was open a bit and Klaus was standing there watching her, his arms crossed and a grin on his face. "Well, this is certainly liberating for you, isn't it?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, it is. Catch me!" She tossed the hairbrush on the floor and as the song ended, he caught her and they began kissing furiously, pausing only so he could pick her up and carry her to the bed, where she tore off her bra and eased off her panties and then unzipped him as he kissed down her neck. Yes, she thought to herself. She had done the right thing. She definitely had.

"Thank you so much, Alistair," Elijah told him when he and Gregory arrived at Alistair's. "It's incredibly kind of you to take us in like this."

"Of course," Alistair said as he waved them inside. "I wouldn't have it any other way. And to tell you the truth, I'm incredibly concerned. After you've gotten settled in, please come and tell me again what in the world is going on with you and Selina."

"Gladly," Elijah nodded. "Meet you in the library in oh, an hour, let's say?"

Alistair nodded. "I will be waiting for you."

Elijah nodded and went to unpack his and Gregory's things, and then went to the library.

"All right," Alistair said. "Let's begin at the beginning. Tell me how this happened."

"Well, as you may or may not know," Elijah began, "Selina's son Sam recently became a vampire. She always thought he'd be her one human child that's living and his transformation has really disturbed her."

"She seemed fine after she and Sam talked today," Alistair told him. "Sam is staying here until he adjusts and Helene and Astrid, along with Adrian, are helping him with that."

"You mean he's here?" Elijah asked, looking a little thunderstruck. "Here in this house right now?"

"Yes," Alistair nodded. "He is here in this house right now. I could take you to see him if you don't believe me."

"And Selina and Damon were actually here?" Elijah continued. "Did you see them for very long? At any time were their hands places on each other where they shouldn't be?"

"Well, no!" Alistair said. "From what I saw, they were focused on Sam, not each other. Is that what you thought? That Selina and Damon were using Sam's condition as an excuse for a rendez-vous?" He looked surprised.

"Well, can you blame me for thinking that?" Elijah asked. "I mean, think of her past behavior with men! She's not exactly the most stable woman in the world, is she?!" He got up and began pacing.

"Yet she must have some qualities you admire somewhere," Alistair said. "As she is currently your wife and the mother of your two children."

"If this behavior of hers continues, she won't be my wife for much longer," Elijah said. "Now, if I may continue about what happened between us?"

"Oh, yes," Alistair said. "Please do. Tell me about what happened after Selina arrived at home."

"Well, to put it quite simply," Elijah said, "since I thought she and Damon were having some sort of affair, I confronted her about that, she proclaimed her innocence, and then when I wasn't quite convinced, instead of telling me about Sam and why his transformation was such a problem, as she ought to have, she proceeded to just give up and began kissing Niklaus right in front of me!"

Alistair winced and sucked in a breath. "Oh, tell me she didn't! She was handling it so much better and then she went and did that." He sighed.

"I know!" Elijah said. "Of all the foolish, idiotic things she could have done..."

"You know, I'm not automatically condoning your behavior either," Alistair said. "You bear some responsibility in this. Not a lot, but some."

"What?" Elijah asked, standing up quickly. "What have I done?"

"Well, let's see," Alistair said. "You let your imagination run away with you and accused a woman who clearly loves you with all her heart of having an affair with a man who is already in a relationship. With her own daughter, no less. She told you the truth about what happened between her and Damon and you chose not to believe her. You could have done that, you know. Given her the benefit of the doubt just this once, especially since you know now that she wasn't lying at all. I know it's not really in your nature to do something like that, but if you want your relationship with Selina to work, you can't just keep on being the same man you are. You have to bend a little, just like I know she has."

"She has not!" Elijah said. "She's still the same foolish woman she always was!"

"You say that now because you're angry," Alistair told him. "If you were in a more pleasant frame of mind, you'd have a completely different view. I know it."

"I don't know why you're so invested in this, anyway," Elijah said. "I thought Selina and I being together was horrifying to you."

"I never said that," Alistair said. "I can't deny that I was surprised when I found out, but I never said it was horrifying to me. You're putting words in my mouth. Anyway, as I was saying, you have to change ever so slightly, as Selina has, if you hope to have a long-lasting relationship with her."

"Why?" Elijah asked.

"What do you mean 'Why'?" Alistair asked, looking amazed. "You don't know much about her human life, do you?"

"Well, no," Elijah said. "But I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"It has a lot if not everything to do with it!" Alistair told him. "I can see now why she took Damon and not you to see Sam. Because she was right. You don't seem to understand her point of view at all."

Elijah growled. "People keep saying that, yet no one is making an effort to enlighten me! Would you do that? Please?" He sat down in a huff.

"Well," Alistair began, "She didn't have good examples of relationships as a human. Frankly, I'm surprised the two of you have done as well as you have. At her birth, her parents were much in love and very happily married. But when she was two months old, her father went off to war and never came back. Her mother then married a very controlling and abusive man named Robert Pierce. He physically abused Selina on a daily basis once she'd gotten a few years on her. And her mother as well, to the point where her mother attempted suicide more than once. Selina watched all of that. When she was fourteen, her mother took her to a party thrown by a family friend where she was forced to listen to the well-bred young men of the town discuss how, since she was one of the richest girls around, they would love to marry her, take charge of her fortune, and then send her away to live with their overbearing mothers so they wouldn't have to think about her as anything more than a source of income and the vessel for the male heirs that would carry on their family names, rather than a human being with thoughts and feelings, as she deserved."

Elijah shut his eyes. After hearing all this, he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of shame.

"Are you okay?" Alistair asked him. "Can I get you anything?"

Elijah shook his head. "Oh, no. You don't need to bother. I think I just need to go and lie down, maybe rethink this whole thing."

"What do you mean?" Alistair asked him.

"Well, what you've told me is very distressing," Elijah said. "I had no idea about any of this, and if you think about it, in a very small way, I'm not much different from those other men Selina encountered in her childhood. Maybe it would be best if I didn't try to go back to her. Because I know the sort of person I am, and that I can't change that. So although I love Selina very much, for her sake, I should probably just leave her be. Even though that means I will have to spend the rest of my life without the woman I love, my only option for companionship being to spend evenings with women I don't even care about." He sighed sadly.

"Oh, come now!" Alistair said, coming up behind him. "Don't you think you're being a little overdramatic?"

"No!" Elijah shook his head. "Alistair, what kind of a person would I be if I subjected Selina, the woman I love, to a life that would bring back painful reminders of her terrible childhood? Tell me that!"

"If you did all that to her," Alistair said, "if living with you was that much of a nightmare for you, she would have had the sense to end things with you a long time ago, but she hasn't. She didn't even think of it. Well, until you went and accused her of being unfaithful when that was not the case. The difference between the men of her childhood and you is that you genuinely love her, don't you?"

Elijah nodded. "Yes, I do. It wouldn't have hurt so much to watch her be with Niklaus if I didn't."

"Well, there you go!" Alistair said. "You love her. "So you shouldn't be giving up! You should be trying to get her back to you! Tell me you'll do that."

Elijah nodded. "I will. When I'm ready. But who knows when that will be."

Roxie woke up the next morning and dressed, then she went to see her father about watching Addie because she was planning to go out. But when she got to his closed door, she heard upbeat salsa music coming from the other side. She knocked a couple of times, opened it and gasped. Her mother was standing in front of the full length mirror in her father's bedroom in gray sweatpants and a white tank top, brushing her hair.

"Hey!" Roxie yelled. "Would you mind turning down the music just a bit?"

Selina's eyes found Roxie and lit up. She turned the radio off and ran toward Roxie, hugging her. "Mornin' Rox!" She said brightly. "What's up?"

"Are you okay?" Roxie asked when she let go. "You've hardly ever called me anything other than Roxanne ever since I was born. And most importantly, what are you doing here? And in your pajamas?"

"Your father and I have decided to get back together for the time being," Selina said. "Do you have a problem with that?" She went to the dresser and grabbed a hairband off it, tying back her dark hair.

Roxie felt lightness spread throughout her body. "No, of course not!" She said. "You two getting back together is all I've wanted since the two of you split up! But what about Uncle Elijah?"

Selina's face darkened. "Oh, him. He thinks I'm a cheating slut, so he'll just have to do without me for awhile. Not that he's gonna care or anything."

"Ouch!" Roxie sucked in her breath and sat down on the bed. "How did that happen? Why does he think you're a cheating slut?"

"Well, Damon and I went to see Sam earlier. It was the first time I'd seen him since he became a vampire because it took me such a long time to come to grips with that fact. I thought it would be easier for me to handle if I went with Damon rather than by myself, but your uncle said that that was not allowed unless he chaperoned us! Can you believe that? Of all the idiotic things to say! I nixed that, told him I'd do whatever the hell I wanted and went with Damon anyway. When I got back, your uncle called me a slut, or 'harlot' I believe his word was, and accused me of having an affair with Damon and then using the 'excuse' about Sam as a way to cover it up. I told him that I wouldn't put up with that, stuck my tongue in your dad's mouth while your uncle was looking, and here I am."

"Wow!" Roxie said, trying not to laugh and failing. "I bet Uncle Elijah's really pissed at you."

Selina shrugged. "So what if he is? He can't talk to me like that. Especially if I'm telling the truth." She sighed. "I knew this would happen eventually. I get into a relationship with a guy that I like, I put my heart and soul into it, I think the guy loves me too, and then..." She made the thumbs down sign and blew a raspberry. "I guess I'm not meant to be in a normal relationship with a decent, stable guy, and that the best I'll ever do is frequent, empty sex with no emotional attachment whatsoever." She and gazed at her sad reflection and then turned back to Roxie. "You are incredibly fortunate to have a man like Vince in your life who knows all your faults and loves you in spite of them. I wish I did."

"Hey!" Roxie said. "Dad likes you. I mean, yeah you're relationship's a bit on the freaky side sometimes, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like you."

"Who doesn't like whom?" Klaus asked, poking his head in the door.

"Oh, Mom thinks you don't like her," Roxie told him.

"I never said that!" Selina said. "She's putting words in my mouth."

"Well then, what did you mean to say?" Klaus asked. "If not that?"

"What I meant to say was that I think I made a mistake," Selina said. "You, me, all of this, it was a mistake. It was just an impulsive thing that I did because your brother hurt my feelings and I wanted to get him back. I used you to do that, Nicky, and I'm sorry."

"What do you mean it was a mistake?" Klaus asked. "No, it wasn't!"

Selina nodded insistently. "Yes, it was! You and I, we have our fun, but it never leads to anything substantial. Not anymore. And I need substantial. I know that. And I also know that I've really fucked things up with the one guy who could give me that."

"So let me get this straight," Klaus said. "You as good as seduced me last night, making me risk everything I have with Caroline, just because you wanted to upset my brother. Not because you actually wanted us to be together again."

"Exactly," Selina nodded. "I'm sorry, Nicky. Go ahead. Get mad. Pull out my heart. Rip off my head. Do whatever you want. I deserve it."

Roxie decided it was time to slowly ease out of the room. She grabbed Addie and her things and headed over to Vince's. Neither of her parents noticed, however.

"If it were anyone else doing this to me, I would do that," Klaus said. "But I know you too well. I know you're as messed up as I am because your mother was as bad as Mikael and-"

"Sorry to interrupt you," Selina said. "But did you know they're dating now? My mom and Mikael?"

Klaus' eyes widened. "No, really?"

Selina nodded. "Yep! I have a feeling Christmas is just gonna be lovely this year." She rolled her eyes. Then she looked back at him. "Now, what were you saying before I interrupted you?"

Klaus sighed. "I was saying that we're both a little crazy because the people who raised us were horrible. And when we're together, we can forget about that for awhile, but then, after that ends, we're still in the same place. Nothing's changed. You know?"

Selina nodded. "Yeah, I know. That's why I was happy when I found Elijah and you found Caroline because admit it. They are both a hell of a lot more sensible than the two of us. We need them to keep us from going crazy and being destructive, don't we?"

Klaus nodded. "Yes, we do. Even though I don't like admitting it, I know you're right. But just because I'm with Caroline, (and thank god she was away for the night, or there would have been trouble) and you're with Elijah (or you will be once the two of you sort things out again), that doesn't mean we can't still care about each other, right?"

"Of course we can still care about each other!" Selina said. "Who else would I talk to when your brother is just getting way too serious and I need a break? But in the future, I suggest we keep our clothes on at all times when we see each other. It would just be better that way."

"I know," he said, his eyes sweeping her body longingly. "It would be, but at the same time, still a shame. Elijah is a lucky man."

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "It's shame he can't take his head out of his butt long enough to figure that out." She sighed. "Can I still stay here if I take another room?" She asked. "I obviously can't go back home and I have a feeling that once word gets out about what I've done, there will be quite a few 'friends' of mine who won't like me anymore."

Klaus sighed. "All right," he said. "If you take another room. But we probably shouldn't even do that arrangement for too long."

"Yeah, right," Selina said. "Thank you, Nicky."

Klaus nodded. "You're welcome, love."

Selina nodded and went to the room where she'd put Laura and took care of her, than she and Klaus moved her into another room. They finished just in time for Caroline to call out "I'm back! Anybody home?!"

"I am," Klaus called. Caroline came into the room and smiled when she saw Selina. "I had no idea you were gonna be here. This is a pleasant surprise."

"Well, not really," Selina said. "Although I'm glad to see you too. Elijah and I have been having problems and Nicky offered to let me stay here for a day or two. If that's all right with you."

"Oh, of course!" Caroline said. "Stay as long as you need." She left the room and Selina looked at Klaus. "We have to tell her. We have to tell her what she did."

"Yes, I know," Klaus said. "I plan to. But since you don't have anywhere else to go at the moment, I think I'll wait to tell her until you've figured out alternate lodging. I wouldn't want you to have to be on the street."

Selina nodded. "Thanks for that."

A few minutes later, Caroline came in with flannel sheets. "It's gonna be cold tonight," she said. "So this might be more comfortable for you." The three of them made up the bed together and then Selina said, "I feel like baking something. Who wants brownies?"

"You're kidding, right?" Vince asked Roxie. "Your parents? Together again?"

"Yeah!" Roxie nodded. "I mean, first we get that note that says Joey isn't dead and then my parents get back together! It's like Christmas!"

"Well, first," Vince told her, "I wouldn't get too excited about your parents. Why was it that your mother said she was with your father again?"

Roxie shrugged. "Something about her and Uncle Elijah having problems. She made out with Dad right in front of him and then she and dad had sex."

"Why would she do that?" Vince asked. "I thought your mom loved your uncle."

Roxie nodded. "She does, but sometimes, Uncle Elijah can be a real chauvinist pain in the butt and Mom shouldn't have to put up with that."

"Pray tell, what did your uncle do that was so bad?" Vince asked.

"Well, he accused her of having an affair with Damon and then lying about it," Roxie said. "It was yesterday, when she finally got up the courage to go see Sam for the first time since he became a vampire. She thought it would be easier if she brought Damon with her. Uncle Elijah got uneasy, said she had to have a chaperone, and things just went to hell in a hand basket from there."

Vince sighed. "Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but-"

"If you don't want to burst my bubble, then don't say anything," Roxie told him. "How hard is that, really?"

"Have I mentioned yet how much I enjoy it when you come and visit me?" Vince asked her sarcastically.

"No," Roxie said. "And when are you gonna let me and Addie move back in, anyway?"

"Once we get Joey back," Vince said. "I told you that about a thousand times. Let me see the note again, would you?"

Roxie went and got the note, handing it to him. It was stained and crumpled now, but still very legible.

"And are you sure you don't know who sent this?" He asked her.

Roxie shook her head. "No. The doorbell rang, but by the time I opened it, there was no one there and all that I saw was the note."

"Well, that's damned inconvenient," Vince said. "But I still don't get it. This has to be a prank. Joey is dead. We saw it with our own eyes. You don't forget something like that!"

"But who would want to do that to us?" Roxie asked. "Whether it's a prank or not, who would want to do that to us?"

"Well, well, well," Enid turned around at the sound of the voice and found herself face to face with her sister, Hazel. "What?" Enid asked. "What do you want?"

Hazel pushed her white-blonde hair out of her eyes. "I don't want anything. It's been awhile since I came to see you and I just would like to know how you're doing."

"Oh, I'm good," Enid said nervously. "I got a new boyfriend. All right? Bye now."

"Wait just a minute," Hazel said, following her. "You can't do that to me. You can't just tell me two things about your life and then say goodbye! Let's talk."

"I would love to, but I'm very busy at the moment," Enid said.

Hazel looked around the empty bar. "Busy with what? There isn't anyone here." She looked at her sister suspiciously, her blue eyes narrowed. "Enid," she asked, "is there something you're not telling me? If there is, I would like to know now."

Enid looked into her sister's eyes, struggling with what to say, how to phrase what she'd done with Joey in a way that would bring the lightest possible punishment, when all of a sudden, his cry broke the tension.

"What's that?" Hazel asked. "It sounds like a baby."

"It is a baby," Enid said. "I'm taking care of him for some friends."

"Well, can I see him?" Hazel asked. "I bet he's adorable!"

"No, you can't see him," Enid said. "He doesn't do well around people. Sorry."

"Oh, come on," Hazel said. "Just show me. I only would need two seconds."

"Fine," Enid said. She led Hazel up to Joey's room and showed him to her. "Here he is," she said. "This is Jeremy."

"He is cute!" Hazel exclaimed, looking at the dark haired baby. "But he's so tiny! Was he born early?"

"Yeah," Enid said. "He was. So that's why I can't let him be overstimulated. He's just a little guy."

"Awww!" Hazel reached into Joey's crib and began stroking his stomach, which made him stop crying. "Where did you say he came from again?"

"Just some friends of mine," Enid said evasively. "They went on a long trip. They should be back in a month or two."

"Well, that's just ridiculous," Hazel said. "They shouldn't have a premature baby then go off on some vacation! How did they expect the child to survive? Did they not want him or something? Did they want him to die? When they come back, don't you go giving him to them. They are clearly not fit to have such an adorable child."

Enid's jaw dropped. "Hazel! I can't just keep a kid from his parents! I'm going to give him back at Christmas and that's that."

"Oh, really?" Hazel asked, gently picking Joey up. "Look at his adorable face. Do you really want to doom him to a life of abuse and neglect? I bet his parents are complete nutcases."

"Actually they aren't," Enid said. "Joey has a sister and his parents are very good to her."

"Joey?" Hazel hiked up an eyebrow. "I thought you said his name was Jeremy!"

"Well, his parents said I could call him either name," Enid said quickly, trying to cover up her mistake. "Joey is his first name and Jeremy is his middle name."

"Just who are these friends of yours?" Hazel asked, her eyes narrowing. "I don't care if they're on vacation. I'm gonna go have a word with them."

"Don't you dare!" Enid said. "Babies and childbirth are my areas of expertise, Hazel. Not yours. Now, you've seen him like you asked and I'd like you to go away."

"Fine," Hazel said. "But let me tell you this. Something doesn't feel right to me. You know I'll find out what's going on eventually, and when I do, there will be consequences."

Enid burst out laughing as Hazel put Joey down. "Oh, I'm real scared. What are you gonna do? Go whine to Daddy?"

"You should be scared!" Hazel said. "He can take your powers away for good! Do you want that, Enid?"

"If I were doing something that was against the rules, even if my powers were taken away for doing it, I still wouldn't be sorry," Enid said. "I wouldn't regret it for a minute. Now you just go toddle along to Father and tell him that you've done your duty as the good daughter by threatening me today."

Hazel gave her a sour look and disappeared. Enid breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Joey who was staring up at her. "That was close," she said, picking him up and cuddling him. "Don't worry, though. You'll get to see your mommy and daddy. They know you're alive and everything. I sent them a note. They just don't know it's from me."

Roxie and Vince left Addie in the capable hands of her parents and Caroline and went to work that night where Enid seemed a bit jittery. Finally, after she dropped an entire pitcher of beer on the floor, Roxie decided to ask her what was wrong.

"Oh, nothing," Enid said. "I'm just exceptionally clumsy tonight. Don't bother, I'll clean it up."

"Are you sure?" Roxie asked. "You know, if there's something that's bothering you, I'd be more than happy to listen if you'd like to discuss it."

"Well, all right," Enid said after a minute. "I've done something bad to a friend of mine, and it's really been troubling me. I want to fix it."

"Well, what did you do?" Roxie asked.

"I..." She looked away from Roxie. "I just, um-you know what? Why don't you and Vince take the rest of the night off? You work hard. You deserve it!"

"Are you all right?" Roxie asked her. "Your eyes look kind of funny."

"Hey," Enid said, laughing nervously. "I'm a small business owner. I work around the clock to make the place a success. You on the other hand, do not have that burden. So, you go home and enjoy yourselves. Please. I insist."

"Well, all right," Roxie said. "But before I go, I just have one question: I found a note on my front step awhile ago that said Joey was alive. Do you know if it was some sort of sick prank that someone around here felt like pulling, because I don't find it very funny."

"It wasn't a prank," Enid said. "It's the truth. I wrote that letter. It came from me. And Joey is alive."

"Here you are," Alistair said to Selina when he got into Enid's a few days later. "So, how have you been?"

"How have I been?" Selina looked at him like he was stupid. "I've been horrible, that's how I've been! I screwed up and Elijah is gone, and I really, really miss him!"

"You do?" Alistair asked. "Well, that's good to hear."

"Sorry to burden you with all my problems, but I can't drink, I can't smoke, pretty much all I can do is talk," Selina said. "But you're a very good listener."

"Elijah and Gregory are staying with me," Alistair told her. "He told me what happened with the two of you. What in the world were you thinking?!"

"I wasn't," Selina groaned. "He upset me and the first thing I could think of to get back at him was to kiss and then sleep with Nicky!" She put her head down on the bar. "I am the worst person in the world. He probably doesn't miss me. I don't blame him."

Alistair put a hand on her shoulder. "You know what? He'd probably kill me for telling you this, but he does miss you. There's even a part of him that doesn't think he's good enough for you."

"Really?" Selina asked in amazement. "Why?"

Alistair fiddled with his tie and lowered his eyes. "I told him why you reacted the way you did about Sam and about him. Or at least some of it. About your childhood and how all the men you knew were horrible."

Selina looked up. "Well, it's about time somebody did. Would you tell him that I've ended things with Nicky? We had a talk and decided that doing what we did was wrong. I'm not staying with him anymore. I've moved in with Vince and Roxie. Not that that will change things, but I just want him to know. Would you tell him that? And that I miss him and Gregory?"

"Yes," Alistair nodded, giving her a hug. "And about Elijah, give it time. He loves you, and you love him. You're just going through a rough patch right now. Things will get better, I promise."

Selina nodded. "I hope you're right."