A/N : This one is told in Elijah's Point Of View. Thank-you to everyone who reads and follows and leaves kudos.
Only warning I give is the mention of breast milk.
Chapter 8
Brotherly Advice
Elijah POV
"You're bleeding."
"Thank-you, brother, for the obvious."
"You kissed her, didn't you?"
"I did. Then she bit me, threw me across the kitchen and slapped me in the face with the oven door." He pushes it up and it whips down again. "Enough!"
"That wasn't her. It was me." Logan announces.
"How are you a tribrid?" He growls at Logan.
"My mother got it on with someone else. He hadn't triggered his gene, but it got passed on. I was turned, killed someone and ta-da."
The kitten in her hands hisses.
"Seems to be much more of that going on these days." I comment as I give my brother a hand up.
"Word of the wise, give her space."
"She's had three years of space." My brother hisses.
"No. She's had three years of not having to deal with you. Not having something in front of your face means you can stash it away in the back of your mind and not be confronted with it. She can't exactly ignore you and pretend you don't exist while you're here, now can she?"
"You would know this how?" I ask.
"Klaus spent two years with her. I lived in a dorm room with her for four. Lets just say we were close enough that people mistook us for lesbian lovers." She chuckles. "And the ladies love her."
"So I hear." What's amazing is that this tribrid isn't being clawed to death by that kitten. Animals tend to hate vampires and werewolves.
"I think they think she's a man trapped in a woman's body."
"I heard that."
"Well you walk like a man. You've got bodily functions like a man. You bark at people, you don't talk about your emotions, and you do all the guy stuff like hunting, fishing, and are a woodsman. If Daryl Dixon had boobs, you'd be it."
I understand that reference. Hayley loves The Walking Dead and Daryl is her favorite character. She says she likes his evolution and his bromance with Rick. I can not say I disagree. I enjoy it too.
"I think you may be right about that." I have gathered enough from Niklaus that these things about her are true.
"No one asked you. Get out of the kitchen before the herd comes in."
She's changed her clothes. Gone is the lovely black and purple dress and in it's place is a pair of Bermuda shorts and a sleeveless top.
"They're his ch-"
The cupboard door opens and the corner hits me in the groin and then one behind me opens up and slaps me hard on the ass.
"I believe I said out. If I wanted to hear that conversation again, Niklaus and I would be barking at each other."
There's the thunder of feet above us and then all three of them come charging into the kitchen.
"Mama!" They're all long winded. "Momaaaaaaaa!"
"I can hear you. I'm not deaf."
"Kian tried to eat my kitty!"
"No I didn't!"
"You did too! I saw it!"
This causes a slapping contest between the two boys.
"Are we gonna start that again? Or do you wanna not have TV privileges for the day?"
It stops and they still pout at each other.
"I can't make the TV work!" The girl holds the remote up to Roxanne. "Make it work."
"Paw Patrol!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Keep it up and ya'll will get to watch the news. Bridget, if he wants down, let him go. Just like when you don't want to play with your brothers, sometimes kittens want to play by themselves."
She pouts but sets the kitten down on the floor and it joins others that are wrestling in the cat corner where there is a jungle gym for them to climb and play on as they get older.
"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"
"Spongebob square pants!"
"Who lives in a prison in cell block C? Daryl Dixon. Taking care of babies and killing zombies! Daryl Dixon." Logan teases.
"Oh shut up."
"Make me." Logan's smirk disappears. "Never mind. Wrong morning. I'm gonna watch bob." She joins the triplets standing around the coffee table playing with the crayons and books that have been there all night.
"This is the part where she pretends we are air." Klaus tosses the bloody paper towel in the trash. "What's for breakfast?"
The freezer door opens but this time he catches it before it can hit him in the face, but doesn't catch the drawer that opens and hits him in the hip. When he tries to close it, it won't go and then it slaps shut with his fingers in it.
"Roxanne."
He pries his fingers free as she begins making pancake batter.
"Ooh, Roxy still mad? I suggest angry hate sex."
"Sophie, if that were to occur, I'd be borrowing that monstrosity you use on Oleg and I'm sure Klaus would never get over it."
Sophie laughs. "His eyes are so big! He looks terrified."
"He should be. Do make yourself useful and wash those please."
"It's bad enough you have me picking fruit but now you want me to wash it too? I'm not a servant."
"Then I guess you don't want to eat."
"That's just Sophie. She's been treated like a spoiled rotten princess all her life." Oxsanna says.
"Queen."
"Welcome to Logan's castle where she's queen, I'm princess, and you're a baroness at best."
Sophie gasps and Roxanne gasps right back at her, followed by a slap on her backside.
"And put your tits away. If I wanted to see that I'd look in the mirror."
Sophie is a full figured blond and isn't afraid of displaying anything and nearly everything. She sets the blueberries by the sink and the new witch that's joined us washes them along with the strawberries.
"You're just jealous that yours are only fuller because you're a scarred cow." She fixes herself a coffee and uses milk from the fridge, sugar, and she leaves the kitchen.
"Still fighting after all this time." Oxsanna, the dish water blond smirks. "You gonna tell her she's drinking your milk?"
"Nope." Roxanne replies with a grin. "And she's probably just peeved cause she's an old hag and her lady parts are shriveling up!"
"To hell with you, Roxanne! It's Oleg's sperm! They're slow!"
"That's not the only thing that's slow."
"At least Oleg's not making babies with other-"
Roxanne is out of the kitchen so fast and back again that it was almost like she never left.
"What'd you do?" I ask.
"She's alive. Lets leave it at that."
"What are we doing for Samhain?" Oxsanna asks.
"Sacrificing Sophie to Pan."
"I would have guessed excessive amounts of pumpkin everything, a masquerade costume party with steamy costume sex in the middle of the party."
Roxanne stops dicing the strawberries to swipe at Niklaus with the knife but he's expecting that.
"You're a lot more violent than I remember."
"What can I say? You've brought out the worst in me. Good job."
"Not good job. You always did have the worst temper of us." Oxsanna comments.
"You speak like you've known eachother a long time. What was Dalilah refering to when she asked, does he know?"
"We've all been reincarnated a few times. It wasn't until Dalilah business did Roxy know it. Logan wasn't sure but once she was, Roxy got to relive the past few lifetimes."
"Oxanna. Hush."
"What? They're going to find out anyway."
It makes me wonder if she and Niklaus have met over the centuries. If so, what happened?
"Coffee. Need coffee. Why is it so bright in here?"
"Because you're still half asleep."
Fiona is the Scottish sister witch with auburn hair and a kilt.
"That's my milk."
She puts it back and grabs the other container. "You should put a label on that."
"There is a label on it and it's shoved in the back for a reason."
"So no masquerade? I'm sure I can find that Captain America costume."
Captain America? She got him to dress as a beloved cartoon character? How interesting. Niklaus has never taken much joy in the holidays but there's a little sparkle in his eyes as he mentions it.
"You disgrace that costume, Niklaus. Don't ever wear it again."
"You're going to make this very difficult, aren't you?"
"Lets just say I'm sure I'll make your mother proud by giving you hell."
"Mama! I'm hungry."
She makes sippy cups for each of them with the milk and informs them there will be baby blueberry pancakes for breakfast.
"Well, at least they didn't raise hell about having cups instead of boobs."
"They're three. It was time and I was tired of being bitten."
"You didn't slap them like you do me, did you?"
There's the faintest of smiles and she reaches out to tap him on the forehead with her palm.
"Get lost."
"I can't get lost. I always know where I am."
"Then go play in traffic."
"Your boyfriends here." Fiona announces. "Not him. The other one." She points towards the window. I can see him approaching.
"Seeing as I don't have a boyfriend, I'm still confused."
"Morning gorgeous. I totally heard you. Y'know, stuff like that hurts my feelings."
"My ass is exit only. Please remove your nose from it and shoo."
The he-witch only smiles. She pauses what she's doing to physically close the door herself and pull the blinds.
"I'm not in the mood right now, Carrick."
The vase of flowers and the box of chocolates appear on the counter. "I thought perhaps with him around, you'd want company. Chocolate and lavender helps the recuperation. You know where I am when you need me."
"Aw, he's so sweet. Can I have these?" Fiona asks referring to the chocolates.
"Have at it."
"No touchie." She repeats herself twice while Klaus risks being impaled and kisses the side of her head, and then she scratches his hand when pushing him away from her.
"Push me away all you want, my love, but I hear your heart beat. It doesn't lie."
"It's restraint from stabbing you repeatedly. That sort of thing scars children for life y'know."
"I bet." Klaus takes the entire vase and dumps it in the trash. "Lavender. He doesn't know you at all, does he? Please tell me you didn't sleep with his desperate ass."
"Repeatedly."
Klaus eyes her. "You're lying."
"Am I?" Her tone is the same.
He eyes her still before leaving the kitchen on to the back patio. I go outside with him.
"Do you think she's lying?"
"I can't tell. Come to offer me your worldly advice on women?"
"I was hoping we could talk, yes. But not here, obviously. I'm sure they will eavesdrop."
"You bet I will. So dramatic, romantic and tragic at the same time."
"Oxsanna!"
"What? It is!"
"No it's not. It's painful and annoying. Shut up."
"Carrick creeps me out." Fiona declares.
"Fiona."
"What?"
"No, she's right. He's creepy. In that stalker, I wanna break in to your bedroom and wear your underwear and watch you sleep kinda way. And I think that guy tries way too hard." Oxanna comments.
"Why do you think I continue to drop him on his head?"
"Because you really still love-"
"One more comment about my life and someone's gonna get knifed!"
"Mama?"
"Yes dumpling?"
"All gone. Can I have blueberries?"
"It won't be long and you can have them with your pancakes."
"Okay."
"Hey you," I hear the sound of puckered lips and giggling.
Klaus glances in and sees her with the boy, Kian, the one that looks like Klaus when he was a wee boy. The same hair, the same chin, eyes, nose, I swear if we had a picture of Klaus at that age, we would mistake him for Kian.
His giggling turns into hysteria before she sets him down and he skips off back into the den.
There is a look my brother has that I've never seen on him before. I've seen him watching Hayley with Hope, but he's watching Hope, not the both of them. This look is one I've never seen him give any woman before. I both love and hate it. I love that he's found love. I hate that she rejects him now and I fear that if she wanted to, she could easily pack up and disappear and keep his children far away from him.
He takes a walk out in to the yard and sprawls out across a stone bench. I take a seat in the stone chair covered in ivy.
"Perhaps Logan is right and Roxanne just needs space to adjust to this."
"You don't know her Elijah. Roxy and I are so much alike it's sickening. When someone crosses her she does not forgive and she never forgets; and the only way off that shit list is for them to die or die trying. She's a pessimist and she's only ever been hurt. She's not going to forgive me and if we do get past it, she's never going to forget it."
I wonder if this is one reason why Niklaus didn't want Hayley to keep the baby. He knew it would screw up his chances with Roxanne. There's no way he'd have been able to split his life between Hope and the triplets. Roxanne is too smart for that. I can tell she is far from a fool. She did best our Aunt Dalilah.
"What was said when you spoke earlier?"
Niklaus breathes in deeply and sighs long.
"Basically, this is all my fault. My compulsion didn't work on her and I still don't know why. She decided if we're both too stubborn to move, one of us was going to have to or we'd get nowhere. So she moved." He scoffs. "One day! If she had found me one day sooner everything would be different now. I swear the universe is completely against me! She doesn't trust me at all anymore."
"Time is something we have."
"And again, you don't know Rox. If she wants something, she gets it. If she doesn't wanna do something, she doesn't. If that means keeping them away from me and never giving in to whatever she might still feel for me, she will do it just to spite me. The woman still holds a grudge against the fat little boy that stood in line behind her in elementary school and pulled her hair. She doesn't even remember his name."
"Did you apologize?"
"Yes."
"I mean apologize. The actual words I'm sorry and not admission that it was a mistake and a moments weakness?"
He does not respond.
"Oh, Niklaus, you didn't."
"I told her what it was: a moments weakness that I regret, but I do not and will not regret my daughter."
"Then what?"
"Just drop it, Elijah. I don't feel like talking right now."
Alright. I'll drop it. For now.