A/N: Great big thanks to everyone reading and your reviews are love. I know everyone has been anticipating the will so here you go :)
"When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching-they are your family."-Jim Butcher
The grim mood that had been plaguing all of them since arriving in upstate New York only seemed to increase as they gathered in the executor's' office. The children were back at the hotel with Italy's nanny in charge of them, except for Henrik. Leaving him behind with the other children had been debated for a few moments, but Klaus and Caroline had been adamant on bringing him and Sage had agreed, having witnessed his reaction to the loudness of her children the night before. There was no need to put any of them through that again.
Besides, the will was about him as well since he was one of Mikael and Esther's children.
Klaus wouldn't have attended otherwise. What was the point in going to something that he was left out of, his mentions in the damn thing erased years ago? Perhaps Esther would have left him something minuscule but Klaus doubted that she would have managed that considering the will was joint with Mikael. That man never would have allowed his name to be added to it again.
But Henrik's fate was going to be wrapped up in it and Klaus wanted to be there for him, even if the boy was too little to remember anything that would be said. His siblings had insisted that Caroline attend as well, wanting her included just as Katherine and Sage were. They might not have been married yet but she was family in all of their eyes.
"No one else would ever manage to get you to settle down," Elijah had pointed out with a small smile.
His brother might not have been sure what to make of her at first, Caroline's bubbly personality when they had first met throwing him off a bit, but Elijah had seen how Caroline held her ground with Klaus, how she held him accountable for what he said and did in ways no one else ever had really. He had seen how doing that had helped Klaus grow as an individual, to take responsibility for his own actions, but most of all Elijah had seen how much his brother had fallen for her and was pleased to see that Caroline had fallen just as hard.
Fears that it had all been for money had quickly been squashed when he overheard them arguing about Klaus trying to pay the cost of her books for the semester and Caroline not letting him. The fact that Caroline got along splendidly with Katherine was a definite bonus. His wife and Rebekah usually butted heads, same with Klaus. They rarely saw Finn or Sage and while Katherine found Kol to be amusing for a time whenever he did pop up, Caroline was the one that she seemed to actually be able to bond with and that definitely made trips with Klaus more pleasant than they had used to be.
Rebekah sighed as the executor continued on, listing off the various pieces of art and who they were supposed to be going to. "What?" she snapped when Finn side-eyed her and Elijah arched a brow in a silent protest toward her manners. "None of us care about this part. Just send off the pieces to whoever is getting them. Do you honestly care who gets great grandmother's broach that all of us think is the ugliest piece of jewelry in history?"
She sat a little straighter when no one could deny their lack of interest in any of the parts already discussed. "That's what I thought. What? Is he getting paid by the hour to go over this with us?" she asked, eyes narrowing as she scrutinized the man at the head of the table.
"Rebekah," Elijah admonished though it definitely didn't help that Katherine was trying not to laugh in the seat beside him.
"Oh bloody hell, Elijah, you know she's right," Klaus butted in as he leaned back against the chair. "Has the parameters of the inheritance of the money changed at all? It still being evenly divided to all of Mikael's biological children? Because we can't forget that pesky little word in there or the dna proof that's required to obtain your trust fund."
"That part of the will has remained the same," the executor replied, flipping to the corresponding page. "Finn, Elijah, Kol, Rebekah and Henrik will each be approximately 3.5 million dollars each, put into a trust fund for the younger two that they won't be able to fully access until their twenty-first birthday."
"What?" Rebekah shrieked, this bit of news not sitting well with her at all. "How the hell am I supposed to pay for tuition? Or books? Or anything? How am I going to live?"
The executor swallowed and reached for the glass of water in front of him. "You'll have access to parts of the money until then and will need to get permission from the executor for anything that exceeds that amount."
"I have to get permission to use my own damn money?" Rebekah narrowed her eyes at him. "And you're to be the one to do it?"
"No no. Your parents had very specific criteria for who would be in charge of your trust fund," the man informed her before looking over at Elijah. "Your brother Elijah will be the one who controls the funds until your twenty-first birthday."
Rebekah turned her attention toward him and Elijah frowned at this new information. "We'll discuss your money matters later, Rebekah," he told her before she could get a word out. She sunk back into her chair, pouting, and Elijah couldn't help but wonder which of their parents he should be cursing for handing him this new responsibility. "Who is to be in charge of Henrik?"
"That's where we have a slight problem," the executor informed them as Finn flipped through a few more of the pages to read ahead.
"What kind of problem?" Sage asked, thinking it was better that she get that out before Rebekah could let out another shriek.
"He's not in here," Finn murmured as he flipped back through the pages, scanning them all closer in case he had missed the baby's name.
"What do you mean he's not in there?" Klaus finally opened up the copy of the will that had been in front of him, scouring it for the boy's name. "But you said he was inheriting money."
"Henrik meets the requirements of the stipulations for how the money is split even though his name isn't mentioned anywhere in the document," the estator started to explain.
"How can he not be mentioned anywhere?" Finn demanded, still flipping through the pages. "They had to have named a guardian for the boy." His parents were sticklers for keeping the will up to date. Or at least they had been when he was a child.
"They were going to come in after the holidays to update the will," the man informed them causing the group to all look at one another.
It was a chorus of questions after that, all of the siblings demanding what that meant for the baby, and Caroline rose, moving with Henrik toward the back of the room and away from the loud voices. He didn't cry but he curled into her all over again, little hands clinging desperately to her as he pressed his face into her chest. "Shhh, its okay, everyone is just worried about you," she murmured to him as she tried to calm him down.
The others quieted down, ashamed for their burst of anger that had scared the baby. "So what does this mean for him?" Rebekah finally asked, looking back at the two for a second before turning her attention back to the executor.
"You're his family. Any court would grant custody to whichever of you wants to take it," the man told them and silence spread out between all of them as they took in those words.
It would be their choice for who would get the little boy, he wouldn't be beholden to Mikael and Esther's wishes like each and everyone of them had feared. But who should be the one to take him in and raise him? "The money in his trust fund will need to be handled by a different executor to ensure that its being used to his best interest. Though I doubt any of you will truly need to touch it if you were to take on the responsibility of him," the man continued but silence was all that answered him.
"I think," Finn started and Sage reached over to squeeze his hand before nodding. "We had talked about it earlier on the chance that they had left him to us…" He sighed, looking as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders as he looked at all of his siblings.
"Henrik doesn't react well to loud noise, as we all just saw," Sage continued for him, nodding toward where Caroline stood with the baby. "The only time there's quiet in our house is when the girls are asleep at the same time and that doesn't even happen every night. So as much as we would like to help we don't think our family would be the right environment for him."
"I suppose we could always hire another nanny?" Katherine suggested as she looked at Elijah. Rebekah snorted at that idea and Katherine narrowed her eyes at her. "Oh, so you'll be taking him then?"
"I can't with school," Rebekah protested, looking entirely too much like she was about to jump across the table and claw her sister-in-law's eyes out.
"No one expects you to do so," Elijah tried to smooth over. "Just as none of us would expect Kol to do it with his wandering ways."
"Perhaps adoption might be best," Finn started, earning sharp looks from all of them. "We could meet them, ensure they're a good family, and he could live a life far from the trappings of being a Mikaelson."
Klaus' eyes widened at the idea, barely believing his ears. Even worse was that Elijah was nodding along, seeming to accept the idea while Rebekah sighed and looked down at her hands, not willing to fight it. "He's family," Klaus protested, wondering when all of his siblings had gone mad.
"Finn and Sage can't do it. Katherine and I barely have time for Italy as it is," Elijah reasoned without looking at him. Coward.
"I suppose it shouldn't be all that surprising that you're all so willing to simply ship him off, put him onto someone else. Isn't that the Mikaelson way of dealing with things? Out of sight, out of mind," Klaus accused, looking at each and every one of them. "If you no longer have to deal with it then it must no longer exist."
"That's enough, Niklaus," Elijah started, casting a glance toward the executor. There was no reason for this man to be shown a glimpse of their families problems.
"We're trying to do best by him," Finn added and Klaus focused on him instead, his gaze growing colder than Finn had ever seen it.
"Best for him or best for you? It seems to me that you've never had a problem running as quickly from this family whenever it got a bit too much to bare for you," Klaus surmised as he glared at his eldest brother.
"That's not fair, brother," Finn replied with a shake of his head.
"We were eighteen," Sage butted in, always at the ready to defend her husband's choice to leave the others behind. "We did what we needed to so we could stay together."
"What a hardship it must have been to freely leave with whatever he wanted, boxes shipped to the new place and trust fund in hand," Klaus bit out. "I'm sure he was simply devastated."
"This isn't about what any of us did, Niklaus," Elijah interrupted. "It's what Henrik needs and what he doesn't need."
Had they all gone mad? They couldn't simply give the boy up to someone else. How could they truly protect him from everything Mikael had done if he was out of their reach with others who wouldn't know how to explain what had happened to his birth parents? Or maybe it was selfish to want to stay in his life, to want to be around the three month old, but Klaus couldn't stomach someone else getting hold of him.
He looked back at Caroline, needing to talk to her, to see if she understood what he was about to do. But she was nodding as she held onto Henrik who clung to her and Klaus knew that she already understood what he was about to do and that she was behind him on it from that simple motion of her head and the desperate look in her eyes.
"You're not hoisting him off on someone else. We want him," Klaus managed to get out in between the continued discussion. "Caroline and I will take him in. We'll raise him."
"This isn't a passing fancy, Niklaus," Finn started as he looked over at his brother. "This isn't something you can simply decide a year or so down the road that you don't want to do anymore."
"I know that," Klaus snapped, hands clenching into fists under the table as he worked to keep his temper under control. "But he is my brother and I don't want him being handed over to someone who isn't family."
"Surely this is something that you'll need to discuss with Caroline," Finn protested, but she stepped forward at that.
"Like Klaus said, we want him," she assured the others and then looked down at Henrik who was falling asleep against her. "And I think that he wants us."
"Is there a particular reason why we shouldn't take him in?" Klaus asked, pointedly looking over at each and every one of his siblings. Finn shook his head while Sage smiled at him. "I suggest you lay all of your cards on the table right now if you think there's an argument for why we can't do it."
"That's not what we're saying," Finn sighed at his brother. "We merely want you to be sure that this is something that you want. With you just opening your gallery or with Caroline still at school. Your impending marriage on the horizon. Adding a baby into the mix can be stressful."
"We'll manage," Klaus told him adamantly. Caroline and him were a team, they would do what they needed to in order to make this work. "Any further objections?" He looked around again but his siblings shook their heads, none of them about to deny him the opportunity to take on Henrik if he truly wanted to do so.
"Everyone should know better than to try and talk you out of something once you've got it stuck in your head," Rebekah muttered though she was smiling.
"I suppose that's settled then," Elijah quirked a brow as he raised both hands slightly in acquiescence. Any further discussion could happen in private away from the executor's ears. There was no need to involve him in their family matters.
"I'll go over the details of what you'll need to do to get guardianship after we're finished here," the executor told them as Caroline sat back down beside Klaus. "It'll be a simple process since you're family and the courts always want to keep children with their families."
The man continued on with the will, but Klaus' focus was on his baby brother asleep in Caroline's arms before he looked up at her, reciprocating her beautiful smile. They would need to rework their plans, jostle some things around, and had so much to discuss once it was the three of them alone again, but Klaus simply knew by looking at the two of them that it would work out alright in the end.
Caroline and he were too stubborn for life to not work out how they wanted.
The process of becoming a guardian was a bit complicated. It would involve filing a number of papers and appearing at a hearing. It should have taken weeks but with enough money to grease the wheels the court would be ready to hear their case tomorrow. And then they would be the guardians to Henrik. Or Klaus would. She would officially get that title once they were married. They were scheduled to head to court after the funeral, neither of them wanting to stick around North Salem any longer than necessary. The reading hadn't gone on much longer once everything with Henrik was revealed and everyone had decided that it might be best to do dinner on their own that night, emotions still running a little high between all of the siblings.
Henrik was napping in the crib and Caroline was scrolling through another website on her ipad, trying to add more to the ever growing list of things they were going to need. Klaus could practically feel the waves of anxiety starting to ripple off of her as the reality of the situation started to hit them both.
"There's so much we need to get," she murmured as he sat down beside her on the couch. "And where is he going to sleep? Obviously we're going to need a crib but I don't think we want him on the floor above us. That'll be a lot of running up and down the stairs in the middle of the night." But that was where all of their spare rooms were. Or there was the one in the basement level but that wouldn't work either.
"We'll figure it out," Klaus tried to reassure her, wondering how much trouble he would get into if he tried to pry the ipad from her hands.
"He's kind of going to be coming home with us in like two days, we need to figure it out now," Caroline snapped, obviously frazzled. She closed her eyes a second later, shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry. I didn't…."
"I know," Klaus pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "But you're right." They couldn't put it off and hope for the best. He moved to the desk for a moment, returning with a pen and paper and set about sketching their brownstone to help give them ideas. Caroline was a visual person, one who liked her charts and maps so he knew this would help her formulate an idea better.
She relaxed beside him, setting the ipad down and Klaus considered that to be a victory all on its own. "First and second floors are not an option. But I think we could turn this so-called sunroom that we so do not even use that's attached to the master into it. I mean we basically just pass through it to get to the balcony. We'll need to completely baby proof that door so he won't be able to get out on there but I think this could work. The sunlight would be nice for him, right?"
Plus it was on their floor and getting to him if he woke up in the middle of the night would be easy enough to do. "Though you're so going to need to paint it because that dark blue so does not work for a baby's room," she continued as she took the paper from him and started drawing out where to place the crib and other furniture that she must have already made a list for.
"I'm going to need to paint it?" Klaus arched a brow at that while running his hand up and down her back.
"You are the artist," Caroline pointed out with a chuckle before growing much too serious again. "Are you sure we can do this? Like we don't even own plants because we kept letting them die."
"I think we can do anything that we put our mind to," Klaus told her honestly, pleased that she smiled at that. "I don't want him growing up in another family. I don't want to lose him. Perhaps Finn and Elijah are correct though and it would be best if Henrik grew up away from the lot of us."
Caroline sighed at that and took his hands in hers. "He'd come looking one day though. Most adopted kids do, don't they?" Or at least that's what she'd seen on TV.
Klaus nodded. "Perhaps." Though maybe Henrik wouldn't and he'd never know about the awful first three months of his life. "There are so many what-ifs." And that's what could drive them mad.
"There are," Caroline conceded as she rested her head against his shoulder, letting Klaus pull her close. "Maybe we're what's best for him. He already seems attached." He sought her out when he felt scared, smiled at Klaus' presence, and they had only known him a few days. "Plus there aren't any guarantees that giving him to another family won't end horribly. But we can definitely guarantee that we'll do our best by him."
Klaus kissed the top of her head. "We will do our best with him."
"What are we going to have him call us? What do I refer to you as? Brother? Klaus…" Caroline tilted her head to look at him better. "Daddy?"
"I...I don't know." That was something the two of them were going to need to figure out though.
"We'll think on that one," she murmured as she hugged him tightly. Klaus nodded and rested his chin against her head. "...oh god." Caroline pulled away a little and looked up at him with wide eyes. "We are so gonna need to tell my mom. Especially since we're doing Christmas at her place this year."
He could see the apprehension starting to overtake her again and drew her closer. "It'll be fine," Klaus promised, thankful that she relaxed a little against him again. Though, that was definitely going to be an interesting conversation had between the two of them.
"There's so much that we need to buy," Caroline sighed, drawing her fingers over his shirt. "Crib first definitely though. And we need more formula, bottles, diapers and wipes. Clothes. A changing station. Toys. Board books. Towels. One of those baby bath things."
She rattled off her list and Klaus let her do so, threading his fingers through her hair. He knew listing everything would help her process it all. "We'll head to one of the stores before we leave for the city and pick up at least the basics. Then we can get the rest once we're back home so it can all be to your specific taste."
Caroline smiled at that. "I love you."
"I know," Klaus smirked, grunting at the elbow to his stomach. "I love you too."
"Much better," Caroline murmured as they continued to rest on the couch and contemplate how much their lives were about to change.
Klaus had never been a fan of funerals. Not that he'd attended many in his life, but the handful that he'd been present at had all been encompassed by the same solemn atmosphere. The last one though-the one for his birth father, for Ansel-had been different though, laced with a melancholy that it had taken him years to shake. He'd barely begun to know the man, only started to really forge a relationship with him, happy that at least one person wanted him in their life. Then in a second he was gone, killed in a car crash. Something that could happen to anyone at anytime really and it had taken him away far too soon.
Just as Mikael had done to Esther in regards to Henrik.
The baby seemed to sense the sorrow that was interlaced in the crowd, mixed with a relief over at least one of the coffins being laid into the ground. Henrik fussed in his arms, unable to get comfortable even when Klaus had passed the baby to Caroline. He didn't stop fussing until they were finally walking away from the gravesite, none of them wanting to linger around for too long.
There were people to see though, old friends of the family to chat with, but Klaus figured the three of them would be able to bypass that. After all, he hadn't been considered part of the family for over eight years. Why did he have to make small talk with Mikael and Esther's friends?
Everyone wanted to see the baby though, converging on the three of them before they could get to the car. Klaus was ready to help Caroline maneuver past them all when Elijah pulled him away, forcing him to leave her and Henrik on their own with the vultures.
"Is this truly what you want?" Elijah asked as they walked along the path by the headstones.
"I believe that I already said it was before," Klaus muttered, keeping his gaze on Caroline and Henrik, ready to move toward them if needed.
"I simply wonder if you truly see all of the ramifications of having him in your lives? Everything you do will revolve around him," Elijah explained and Klaus arched a brow at that. "You'll no longer be able to do as you please."
"Like you and Katherine don't do as you please all the time. Isn't that why you have a nanny?" Klaus mused, enjoying the way Elijah's lips thinned at that.
"We have a nanny because of our careers," Elijah pointed out, well aware that Klaus knew that but his brother was always one to push buttons. Especially his.
"What is it that you think the two of us do, Elijah? Caroline is in the last year of school. I'm an artist. My workspace is in our house. We don't simply fly away at the drop of a hat." Though Klaus might have tried to get that to happen once or twice but Caroline Forbes was entirely too driven to simply drop plans on a whim. "We take our responsibilities seriously. I'm not 17 anymore."
"No. I suppose you aren't," Elijah sighed, even if he did see traces of that angry teenager in his brother still.
"I guess it's a bit too much to hope that you don't all expect for me to fail," Klaus groused with a grim smile. 'But then I've always been the black sheep, haven't I? Or has that been passed on to Kol now since he's not the bastard?"
Elijah pinned him with a look, thoroughly unamused by that. "You know very well that this attitude of yours doesn't work on me, Niklaus. I was the one who took you in and helped you when they threw you out. I helped you meet your birth father-"
"Ah yes, the ever noble Elijah." There to be a helping hand whenever it suited him best.
"You're the only one who ever considered yourself the bastard," Elijah continued.
"I'm quite certain Esther and Mikael would disagree with you there." Klaus nodded back toward the graves. "But alas, they can't voice that opinion anymore."
"None of us did," Elijah told him and reached over to clutch his brother's shoulder. "You are family. Always and forever to your siblings, Niklaus." He gave one more squeeze and then dropped his hand. "I hope you realize that you won't be able to push Henrik away as you're prone to do with the rest of us." Elijah looked past them and Klaus followed his gaze, letting it fall on Caroline. "Though I'm sure she'll be more than happy to remind you of that when you do falter."
If the 'be nice to your brother' look that she was currently directing Klaus' way was anything to go by Elijah was definitely right about that. "But I believe you two have a judge to see so I won't keep you waiting. We're doing dinner as a family tonight though. I made sure that Caroline is already aware of that."
Klaus shook his head as Elijah set off toward Katherine and Italy. His niece smiled brightly at him and Klaus reciprocated it before heading off to free Caroline and Henrik from the hordes. "So we're doing dinner?" he asked as they headed toward the car.
"Who knows when we'll even see Finn and Sage again," Caroline pointed out to him as they arrived at the car. "So yes, because they all want to see you and they want to see Henrik. And you love them and want to see them all too even if you're a bit irritated with them right now. You'll regret it in like a week if we don't go."
Klaus opened the backdoor for her so she could strap Henrik into the car seat and sighed because she was right. He would end up regretting it. "Let's go see that judge."
Two hours later and the judge had granted the motion for Klaus to obtain legal guardianship. Everything was filed with the court and Henrik had suddenly truly become his responsibility. It was a heavy feeling to have so much responsibility in his hands, to be the deciding factor in everything that happened to the little boy now. The judge had seemed skeptical at first, having known Mikael and ruthlessly asked if Klaus was wanting this to have access to the fortune that he hadn't inherited.
A quick reply about being Ansel Wolfe's only living heir at the time of his death had quieted that suspicion. Klaus was worth far more than Mikael had ever been and had gladly rubbed that in the man's face when he'd inherited everything. It had wrankled Mikael to no end, been the cause of numerous blowouts according to Rebekah, and here again it seemed that Klaus' birth father's name was an asset to use against the bitter old man even in death.
Klaus couldn't help but feel smug about it all.
He watched Caroline changing his little brother, blowing raspberries against the baby's stomach as she worked his feet into the pants causing him to smile. It brought one to his own lips as he took in the love that he could see there, that was already flowing between the two of them in such a short time. Not that he was surprised by that. He understood all too well what it was like to fall under her spell; to be loved by Caroline Forbes was to truly live.
This was his family, the three of them and his siblings, but for now Klaus would focus on just them and ensure that he and Caroline made a home for Henrik that was far happier and healthier than the Mikaelson homestead had ever been.
It shouldn't be that difficult.
They were already a step ahead of Mikael and Esther by easily showing Henrik how much they cared for him instead of keeping it concealed behind layers of propriety. Henrik would be loved, he wouldn't need to cower in closets, or try to blend into the background to stay out of Mikael's path.
He would be happy.
Wasn't that all any of his siblings had wanted as children? To feel happy and loved?
At least Henrik would get that childhood even if the rest of them never got that chance.