Previously in "Pages in Between", Elijah tells Damon and Elena about Mackenzie's 'revenge sex' night, and Stefan and Damon both meet their half-sisters, one of which turns out to be a fraud.

Chapter Five

Andrea and Mac's Dorm Room – Two Months Later…

Mackenzie moved back away from the toilet and weakly reached for the rag that was at the edge of the counter, wiping away the bile from her chapped lips. She had run into the toilet stalls part of the dorm's shared bathroom area before she could climb into her shower to get ready for the day and threw up the food she'd thought she could hold down the day before, but it didn't quite settle.

Andrea heard Mackenzie throwing up and, concerned for her, knocked on the door. "Mac, are you okay in there? You sound like you were hacking up a hairball or something."

Mackenzie groaned as she replied, "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little sick, that's all."

However, Andrea didn't quite believe her and opened the door, finding her friend still on the floor. "You call that a little sick? Mac, you look terrible. Maybe you shouldn't go to class today if you look like that."

Her friend and roommate looked up at Andrea. "What about you? You must have the same thing, but you haven't complained at all. What's your secret?" Mackenzie asked as she finished wiping away the bile around her lips.

"Secret," Andrea replied mysteriously. "I just learn to stay away from foods that won't make me sick and keep myself healthy, so I think you should do the same."

Andrea then gave her friend a quizzical look. "All right, Mac, I know something's up and I want to know what it is."

"What are you talking about?" Mackenzie said. "Nothing is up, Andrea."

"Oh, really, why don't you look me in the eyes and say that?" Andrea said. "Then why did I hear from Tanya that you were in her apartment building? Explain that, Mac."

Mackenzie bit her lip. She wanted to try and lie her way out of it, but she knew Andrea didn't believe a word she had been saying so far, so what was the point in lying any more than she already was? "Okay, yes, I was at Tanya's building," Mackenzie said. "You see, after my Grandma Mimi's funeral, I caught Riley and Penny making out in a building across from the Mystic Grill. I was livid, Andrea, so livid that I told them that I never wanted to see either of them again. Then, after we got back, I went to Jacques' bar because I wanted to meet a guy and have meaningless, dirty revenge sex, like my dad did when he was in high school. So, while I was there, I met this guy named Luke Garrison and after we danced a little, we went back to his place and…"

"You had revenge sex with a guy you picked up at Jacques' bar?" Andrea said. "Mac, I can't believe you would stoop that low. I know Riley made a mistake, but that's no excuse to have sex with a random guy." Her eyes widened. "Oh crap, I think I know what's going on here. Mackenzie Veronica Salvatore, you're pregnant."

Mackenzie growled. She had never been called by her full name since the time her mother caught her sneaking out of the house when she was Katie's age. However, her growl quickly changed to a groan, knowing that Andrea was probably right about her being pregnant. Her blue eyes then bulged as she imagined her parents' reaction to the news when she told them. Damon would probably threaten to castrate the guy who knocked up his little girl, which would be tame compared to what Elena would do. "What am I going to tell my parents?" she said in a whisper, her eyes holding a pleading tone to them as she looked up at Andrea.

"I would just tell them the truth, Mackenzie; that's the least you can do," Andrea told her as she knelt down next to her friend and put an arm around Mackenzie's shoulders, stroking the other girl's dark hair. Mackenzie nodded as she sniffed then put her own arms around Andrea, glad that they were friends above anything else.

They had met when they were still in diapers, when April and Elena were both expecting Fiona and the triplets (respectively), and immediately bonded over a toy being taken away by their boy cousins, Riley and Dante, who were a little older then the two of them. Andrea had gone crying to her mother, and so did Mackenzie, so the two expectant mothers had gotten them to bond with each other; it was instant, and they'd been friends ever since.

A few minutes passed before Mackenzie decided not to stall anymore and tell her parents, no matter how much it was going to sting. She shakily got up with Andrea's help and exited the bathroom, heading back to the room. Once there, she found the phone and picked it up, her fingers trembling as she dialed the number. As it rang, Mackenzie felt herself trembling all over. She knew that she couldn't keep this from her parents, even though she wished she could just run to Elijah and tell him, like she had done after she had slept with Luke. Of course, she wondered if Elijah had told her parents about it.

She didn't have long to wonder, however, because she heard Katie's voice, which was somewhat of a relief. "Kenzie, is that you?" Kenzie was the nickname that Katie had given her older sister a few years back, but never got tired of using it.

"Hi, Katie, are Mom or Daddy around? I need to talk to them."

"You didn't call to talk to me?" Katie said, her tone a bit disappointed. "I'm hurt, Kenzie."

"I'm sorry, Katie, I didn't mean to disappoint you. I promise that we'll talk more when I come home for Thanksgiving break," Mackenzie said. "Could you please put Mom or Daddy on? I really need to talk to them."

Katie then put the phone down and Mackenzie ran her free hand through her hair, trying to ignore the trembling in her fingers. Finally, after a few minutes, she heard Elena pick up. "Mackenzie?"

"Hi, Mom," she replied. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Honey, you know I love to hear your voice," Elena said. "Katie told me that you wanted to talk to either me or your father about something. What's going on? Is everything okay at school?"

"Mom, there's something I really need to tell you," Mackenzie said. "Remember when I got mad at Riley and Penny after Grandma Mimi's funeral? Well, after I got back, I went to my friend Jacques' bar because I wanted to forget about Riley and…"

"We know about that, Mackenzie," Elena said. "Elijah told us."

Mackenzie bit her lip. I kind of figured that, she thought. "Well, that's only part of it." She gulped. "Mom, I…I'm pregnant."

Elena went silent. She knew this would have happened sooner or later, but she had always wished that it were the latter choice instead of the former choice. "Does the father know?" she asked softly after letting the silence linger for longer than she wanted to.

"No, he doesn't, and I don't think he's going to know, at least, not any time soon," Mackenzie replied venomously through the phone. She had no interest in seeing Luke Garrison ever again, and definitely didn't have any plans to tell him about the baby either.

Elena sighed on her end. "What are you going to do about the baby?"

"I'm not getting an abortion, if that's what you're thinking," Mackenzie said, struggling to keep her voice low. "I'm going to keep it, but I'm going to need your help…and Daddy's help, provided he's not mad at me because I inherited his habits."

"You leave your father to me, okay?" Elena said before telling Mackenzie she loved her and that she'd see her at Thanksgiving and smiling at her husband when he came into the room.

"Who was that on the phone?" Damon asked as he leaned down to kiss her on the lips.

"It was Mackenzie. She needed to ask about some math homework that she was struggling with and I helped her with it," Elena said, lying straight through her teeth.

Damon nodded. He knew she was lying, but didn't press the issue. "It's nice to know that our little girl reaches out to you when she has homework problems. Math was never my strong suit in school. I was more of a creative student."

Elena smiled. "Yes, my love, we all know how 'creative' you were."

Meanwhile…

Luke knocked on the door to the house that belonged to his brother, Brady. His knock was soon answered by the angry stare of his sister-in-law, Meredith. "What do you want, Lucas? You know that you're not welcome around here," she spit out venomously before going to shut the door in his face, but Luke stopped her by placing his boot-covered foot into the door jam, stopping her.

"Now, Meredith, that's not very nice. I think I deserve an apology for that," he ground out between gritted teeth but she shook her head, pushing him out of the doorway and slamming the door in his face, locking it behind her.

Brady appeared with their eldest child in front of him, holding her by the shoulders as he walked behind her. "Who was at the door, Meredith?" he inquired softly.

She let out a breath. "It was your brother. I slammed the door in his face and remembered to lock it, but it probably won't stop him from leaving," she replied.

Brady nodded. "Well, you did well, Merry. If he does decide to come back again, I'll definitely call the police and get a restraining order against the son of a bitch."

"And if it's not enough?"

"It will be," Brady said. "I promise you that it will be. That boy will learn that he can't threaten you or your family."

She nodded and leaned up to kiss him softly as he pulled her close to him, hugging her fiercely. "We'll get through this together, one day at a time," she vowed quietly to him. He nodded and kissed the top of her head, still holding her close.

"One day at a time," he vowed back to her.

In Paris, France…

Lexi let her fingers move rapidly over the keyboard for her computer, smiling at her husband when he stood in the doorway to their private office. "Hi there," she said to him without looking away from her work. She had promised Stefan and Damon that she would help with finding their real sister, Arietta, and she was going to keep that promise.

"Hi yourself," Kol said as he came around the desk, settling himself behind her and began kissing along her neck, smirking when she tilted her head back until it was in the crook of his shoulder and neck.

"You know I can't concentrate when you do that," she said between soft pants of desperation, standing up and pushing him down into the chair then straddled his hips, leaning in and kissing him in a rough, desperate manner.

"And you know that I like distracting you," he replied once she had pulled away from his lips.

Lexi smiled. "You really are a bad boy, Kol. I made a promise to Stefan and Damon and you're making it very hard for me to keep it."

Kol pouted. "I thought you liked bad boys, darling?"

Lexi laughed a bit and poked his nose. "I do, believe me, I do."

Kol laughed as well and then looked over her shoulder at the computer screen. "So, about this promise you made to Stefan and Damon, what does it entail?"

"They want me to track down a relative of theirs. A woman who was posing as her was arrested two months ago, and now, I'm working on finding the real Arietta Salvatore," Lexi said. "It's not exactly an easy process, but you know me, Kol; I'm like a pit bull with a piece of meet. I'll fight and fight and won't give up."

"I do know you, darling, and you know I'll help in any way I can," he told her, kissing her a final time before turning her around in his lap so they could work on the search together. They had been operating Mikaelson & Branson-Mikaelson on the side of her other career, which had been in the music industry, and while she was touring, he stayed behind and got their investigation business up and running smoothly. Then she took a break so they could have a family; their oldest was nearing 21. Xavier was gearing up to take over the company, but hadn't quite reached the point of taking over. "So, what do we know about this woman so far?"

"Just like Stefan and Damon, her father was Guiseppe Salvatore," Lexi said. "He was married to her mother while he was married to Stefan and Damon's mother, Elizabetta. That was the reason he left them, and he was being investigated for bigamy. Unfortunately, I can't get in contact with the guy because he died three months ago, and contacting Renata Salvatore, Arietta's mother, has been a real pain in the foot. I keep getting her voice mail."

"Perhaps I can get her to talk to us," Kol said. "I can be very persuasive."

Lexi rolled her eyes. "Yes, Kol, I know how 'persuasive' you can be. I've been married to you long enough to know that."

Her husband chuckled as he began typing on the computer's keyboard. "Aha, there she is," he said with a triumphant smile. He gestured to the computer and Lexi moved closer to see that he was right; he had indeed found Arietta and Renata Salvatore.

"You are good, sweetie, you are VERY good," she said, giving him a smacking kiss on the lips as her arms wrapped around his neck.

Kol smirked as he returned her kiss. "Was there ever any doubt of my genius, my darling?"

"No, not at all," Lexi said. "You're part of the reason this investigative service of ours is the powerhouse that it is. Damon and Stefan will be ecstatic when they find out about this."

The Next Day – Salvatore Mansion…

Stefan slapped his arm over his eye then groaned when he heard his cell phone vibrating across his nightstand. "This is Stefan Salvatore," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Bonjour, my fellow Bon Jon fan, time to wake up; I've got great news!" Lexi's chipper voice said through the phone. "Can you PLEASE come out here and open the door? It's freezing!"

He shot up straight then scrambled quickly out of bed and put on his boxers then a pair of flannel pants, shoving a long sleeve shirt over his head as he left the bedroom and headed downstairs to the front door. "I wasn't expecting you to deliver the news in person, Lee," he told her as he hugged her fiercely.

"I know, but what better way to deliver it?" she said with a smile.

Stefan then escorted Lexi into the mansion, shutting the door behind her and then leading her into the living room, helping her into one of the chairs before taking a seat himself. "Now, you said you have some news to give me?"

Lexi nodded. "Indeed I did. Thanks to some help from my husband, Kol, I was able to track down the real Arietta Salvatore."

Stefan blinked. "You did? That's great, Lee!"

"I also found out that she's been living under a different name," Lexi informed him, pulling out the papers Kol had printed off for her before she left France the night before to come to Mystic Falls, handing the papers to Stefan.

"Hayley Gardner Fell," he read aloud. "You mean to tell me that Hayley is my real sister?" He was shocked, to say the least, and looked over at Lexi, who confirmed it with a brief nod. Stefan blinked in shock. "I can't believe this. Hayley was our sister the whole time. How the hell didn't we know about this?"

Meanwhile…

Adrianna Gardner Collins was in the middle of placing her youngest child – adopted from Africa – onto the bed in their room when the knock came softly from downstairs. After placing the blankets over him, Adrianna went downstairs to answer the knock. "Hayley, what are you doing here?" she asked as she let her sister inside.

Hayley sighed. "Ad, we need to talk."

Adrianna raised an eyebrow. "Okay, about what exactly?"

"I'm not who you think I am," Hayley said. "Hayley Gardner isn't my real name. My name is really Arietta Salvatore."

"So, wait, you've been lying to me my entire life about your identity?" Adrianna asked with a shocked tone to her voice.

"Just most of your life, sweetie," Hayley replied. "From the time that you were 8 until now, I've asked Mom and Dad to keep it as well; they took it with them to their grave. They took me in after I told them that I was on the run from my rapist, believing my lie and giving me a new identity."

Adrianna eyed Hayley as she explained herself. She couldn't believe that her sister wasn't really her sister at all, but someone her parents had taken in years ago. "I can't believe Mom and Dad kept this from me all these years." She ran a hand through her hair. "Hayley, I demand to know the truth. I'm old enough now, and I think it's high time I knew."

Hayley bit her lip. "Well, my real parents are Guiseppe and Renata Salvatore, and I have a sister named Natalia. Of course, my father had his own secret; he was married to another woman while he was married to my mother. Unfortunately, I can't ask him about it because he died three months ago, and I'm afraid to ask Renata, my real mother, about it, because I'm not sure if she's going to tell me the truth or not. On top of everything else, I have two half-brothers, Damon and Stefan, Guiseppe's sons from his marriage to Elizabetta."

"Wait, you're related to Damon Salvatore?" Adrianna said. "Crap, I had a crush on him in high school. I wanted to go out with him, but I didn't think he'd go for me because I wasn't a member of the cheer squad." She scowled curiously. "And no one else knows about this? Not even your ex-boyfriend, Tyler?"

"No, I never told him," Hayley said. "Hell, I never told anyone my secret. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Damon and Stefan found out about me somehow, and they've probably told Natalia about me too." She sniffed. "Oh no, and I even lied to my husband, and he's not going to take this very well. He loves me, don't get me wrong, but he's going to be hurt once he knows that the woman he married is a fake."

"So, call Logan and we'll have dinner, so Dean can know too," Adrianna told Hayley with a soft, sweet smile.

After she dumped Tyler over 20 years ago, Hayley had fallen in love with local news reporter Logan Fell, and though it had been an 'opposites attract' kind of love story, they finally came together as a couple when she showed up with nowhere to go, and very pregnant with his baby, their son Garrett Fell, who was on his way to finishing his first year of college.

Hayley took out her cell phone and dialed Logan's number and after a few rings, she heard her husband's voice on the other end. "Hello?"

"Logan, it's Hayley," she replied. "Are you busy right now?"

"I'm never too busy for my darling wife," Logan said. "What's up?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about," Hayley said. "Adrianna was wondering if we could have dinner with her and Dean."

"I see no reason why we shouldn't," Logan said. "What did you need to discuss with me that involves Adrianna and Dean?"

"It's something that I can't discuss on the phone. It has to be in person," Hayley said. "I know you want to know now, but it'll be better if we discuss it over dinner."

Logan was silent for a few minutes and then said, "Okay, Hayley, if that's what you want, then we can have dinner with Adrianna and Dean, and you can tell me what you need to tell me. I love you, you know that?"

Hayley nodded. I only hope you still love me after what I tell you, she thought. "I love you too, Logan. See you later." She hung up and sighed. "I really hope this works, Ad. I don't want to hurt Logan."

"It will work, Hayley; I've got faith in you," Adrianna said as she hugged the brunette to her in a gentle but fierce hug.

Hayley forced a smile. "It's nice to know that I have your support, Ad. I know that you probably thought I was the worst person in the world for lying to you, but I'm glad you're willing to help me through this."

"Are you going to go visit Stefan now and talk to him in person?" Adrianna asked as she walked with the other woman to the front door to let her out.

Hayley nodded. "It's now or never, so it needs to be done," she replied. She gave Adrianna a final hug then left to head to Stefan and Rebekah's home.

Salvatore Mansion – Later…

Hayley pulled up to the Salvatore Mansion, ignoring her pounding heart as she killed the engine. She was nervous as hell, but she knew this had to be done. This was her real family after all, and there was no turning back. Exhaling deeply, Hayley stepped out of the car and walked up to the front of the mansion, ignoring the cold as she walked, mostly because she was too nervous to care.

She arrived at the door and knocked loud enough so that she'd be heard. She didn't have to wait too long because Rebekah appeared. "Hayley, what a surprise; I didn't know you were coming over."

"Hi, Rebekah," the brunette replied. "Is Stefan here by any chance?"

Rebekah nodded and opened the door further, letting Hayley in before closing the door behind her, leading her further in. When they reached the living room, Stefan got up from the chair he had been sitting in. "Thank you, Rebekah." He saw that his wife was about to leave, but added, "No, no, stay. I want you to hear this."

Rebekah nodded again and sat down next to her husband as Hayley sat uneasily on the love seat. There was an awkward silence until the brunette said, "Stefan, I'm…"

"You're my sister?" Stefan said. "Yes, I already know."

"You do?" Hayley said. "How did you know? I didn't tell you yet."

"Let's just say I did some digging around," Stefan said. "It turns out that you are really Arietta Salvatore, but you have been living under the name of Hayley Gardner all these years." He got up from where he was sitting and sat next to her on the love seat. "Your family, your real family, has been worried sick about you; Natalia included, and even your mother, Renata."

"She has?" Hayley said. "I didn't think that anyone would be worried about me. I just assumed that they'd forget about me after I left."

Stefan shook his head. "No, they haven't. They never gave up hope that one day, you'd come home."

Hayley listened to this and then said curiously, "So, how did you really know? Did you really do some digging around, as you said?"

"A con artist showed up two months ago at the club I own with Rebekah, claiming to be you," Stefan said. "Thankfully, she was arrested, and then I asked Lexi Branson Mikaelson, my friend and Rebekah's sister-in-law, to dig up some information about you. She just gave me the results of her search this morning. In fact, I was going to call Damon before you came over."

"Call him and invite him over," Hayley suggested with a soft smile. She was definitely ready to get to know both of her brothers, and let them meet Logan and their family, their nephew and nieces.

Stefan nodded and picked up the phone. "That's a good idea. He's definitely going to be happy to know about this."

He dialed Damon's number and waited patiently as it rang. Finally, after the third ring, he heard his big brother's voice on the other end. "Stefan, how is my favorite brother? To what do I owe the honor of getting this call from you?"

"I'm your only brother, Damon," he replied. "The reason I'm calling is because I have our sister here with me and she told me to call you and invite you here."

"Damn, Lexi is fast, isn't she? I assumed that her investigation would take longer than that," Damon said. "Tell you what, Stefan, I'll definitely come and meet her. In fact, I'll bring Elena, the triplets and Katie. It's time they met their aunt."

"Funny you should mention Elena, because I was just going to suggest that you bring her along. I tell you, brother, you must have ESP or something," Stefan said. "Anyway, tell Elena what we talked about and we'll see you soon."

"Oh, definitely," Damon said. "See you soon, little bro."

Stefan smiled and hung up. Damon hadn't called him 'little bro' in years, but it was refreshing to hear him say it again. Sighing, he looked at Hayley and said, "Damon agreed to meet you. He's bringing Elena and four of their kids."

Hayley's eyes went wide. "Wait a minute, did you say Elena?"

"Yeah, I did," Stefan said. "Why?"

"Stefan, I already KNOW Elena," Hayley said. "Well, maybe not personally, but we did know each other from college. She hung around with Caroline and April." She shook her head. "Oh, this is going to be freaky with a capital F."

In New York…

Caroline was speechless when Rebekah told her the news. "Shut the front door! She can't really be his sister," she said, still shocked about it.

"It's true, Care; Hayley Gardner is really Arietta Salvatore," Rebekah replied through the phone.

Caroline was still shocked. "And I didn't know? How the hell did I not know about this? I usually know about EVERYTHING!"

"Care, we all didn't know," Rebekah said. "It wasn't just you. She was living as Hayley Gardner for years, and we only just discovered her real identity when Lexi brought us the information she and Kol dug up."

"This is freaky with a capital F," Caroline said. "Elena isn't going to know what to think when she finds out."

"We'll have to take it as it comes," Rebekah said. "She'll be shocked, I know that."

"She won't be the only one, trust me," Caroline said. "I mean, I can't believe that this is the same person Tyler cheated on me with back in college." She sighed. "Well, I guess fate is funny like that. I mean, I do kind of owe her, since I never would have fallen in love with Nik if it weren't for her.

"And we're all lucky that you did," Rebekah said. "I will most likely invite the entire family in a few days for a big celebratory dinner, can you ask April and Matthew to come as well? We consider them family, even though they aren't."

"Of course I can," Caroline said before ending the call and smiling at Klaus when he came into the room.

"Who was on the phone, love?" he asked as he gave her a peck on the lips.

"That was your sister. Apparently, Arietta Salvatore has been found, rescued, returned safely to her family," Caroline told him with another smile. "It also turns out that Hayley, the woman that Tyler once dated, is the real Arietta Salvatore. She changed her identity so her rapist couldn't find her, and let us believe she was really Hayley, when she really wasn't."

Klaus scowled. "So, Tyler dated Damon and Stefan's sister and didn't know it?"

"No, she played the part well, it seemed," Caroline said. "It was only until now that we discovered her true identity." She kissed him. "Rebekah also said that she's going to invite the entire family in a few days for a celebratory dinner and wants me to ask April and Matt to come. Even though they're not really our family, Rebekah considers that they're family."

"Sounds perfect," Klaus said. "It'll be good to see Matt and April again. I can't remember the last time we were all together in one place."

"Well, I suppose that doesn't really matter," Caroline said. "What does matter is that I'm going to invite them to Rebekah's dinner."

Klaus was about to answer her when Anastasia came into the room, followed by Lillian. "Mother, Lily took my sweater without asking!"

Lillian looked indignantly at her older sister. "I did ask you, but you were too busy yakking on the phone with Kyle Harper."

"That was a private conversation, you snoopy little brat!" Anastasia said. "You don't see me listening in on your conversations with your friends, do you?" She looked back at her parents. "This is why I don't like sharing a room with her. I have no privacy at all! I'm eighteen years old, damn it! I think I deserve my own room! Liam had his own room until he went to college, and Christian has his own room! Even Sebastian has his own room! Why the bloody hell can't I have my own room?"

Klaus got in between his daughters. "Girls, settle down." He looked at Anastasia. "Now, Ana, what is this argument really about, the fact that Lily took your sweater or that you don't have any privacy?"

"A little of both, actually," Anastasia said. "I've taken over as the oldest when Liam went away to college two years ago, and I thought that meant I could have a room of my own. But, no, I get stuck with Lily, who tends to act like she's six rather than sixteen."

Caroline shook her head as she listened to this. It was obvious there needed to be some serious discussion here. "Ana, Lily, could you excuse us? I'd like to speak with your father about this matter in private." She saw that Anastasia was about to protest. "Now!" Once the girls were gone, she looked at Klaus. "Ana's right, you know. She does deserve her own room. I'd hate to see her and Lily getting into fights all the time and I'd also hate for her to feel slighted because the boys have their own rooms and she's stuck sharing a room with her little sister."

"Didn't your stepsister, Jessica, share our room with you while I was touring to promote the gallery?" Klaus was referring to the girl Bill and Stephen adopted from Japan several months after Liam was born. She was now in her second year at Shenandoah Music Conservatory, where she was studying the cello.

"Yes, but that was temporary," Caroline said. "Nik, before Ana goes to college, we need to figure out a way to solve this before it gets worse."

Donovan Home – That Same Moment…

"MOM, I can't find my red blouse!" Fiona shrieked from the top of the stairs, and April was startled out of her brief nap, her headache growing worse. Thankfully, Matt came in at just that moment and saw the look in her eyes.

"I'll go deal with her; you stay here and rest," he told her, kissing her softly on the lips before heading up the stairs to deal with their second-born daughter.

Matt found Fiona at the top of the stairs. "I know you want your mother, but she sent me to help you."

Fiona rolled her eyes and nodded. "All right, fine, I suppose you can help me."

She led her father to her room, the floor of which had clothes strewn all about. Matt scratched his head. "I guess I can see why you can't find your blouse. I don't know how you can find anything in this mess." He looked at Fiona. "When was the last time you cleaned your room, Fiona?"

"What does that have to do with finding my blouse?"

"It has everything to have to do with it," Matt said. "Fiona, I think you can find it if you just cleaned up in here a little bit."

Fiona wanted to argue but knew he was right. "Okay. I'll clean my room, as long as I can go to that party this weekend, for Donovan Photography," she wheedled to him.

"I'll think about it. That's really for older people, but we'll see if Andrea can get you in," Matt said before leaving the bedroom and heading back downstairs to check on his wife. He was shocked when he found her going into seizures and knelt quickly beside her. "APRIL, what happened; what can I do?!"

When her seizures stopped, she lay back down on the couch. "Matt," she said in a voice that fell somewhere between a choked sob and a slight whine. "Hospital, now…" He nodded and picked her up in his arms, carrying her out to his truck in the garage. Matt came back inside and met the panicked gaze of his daughter.

"Fiona, I want you to stay here with the others. I need to take your mother to the hospital, and you're going to be responsible for them, okay?" he said, framing her face between his slightly chilled hands and she nodded fiercely. "But, for now, can you call your mother's cousin, Francesca Mikaelson? She will need to meet us at the hospital."

Fiona nodded again and waited until he was gone to pull out her cell phone with shaky fingers, dialing the number of her mom's cousin, Francesca. "Fancy, it's Fiona; Dad needs you to meet him and Mom at the hospital," she told her softly.

At the Grill, Francesca got up from her booth then helped Ruby up as well. "Sweetheart, I hate to do this, but we'll have to put our shopping on hold for a few days. That was an emergency for the hospital, and I have to go and check on a patient of mine," she told her niece.

"It's alright, Aunt Fancy, I completely understand," Ruby said with a soft smile.

Francesca dropped Ruby off at home before she went to the hospital, where she saw Matt and April. Matt was scared half to death, and April didn't look that good. "What happened to her, Matt?"

"It started as a headache," he replied. "Then, it turned into a full-blown seizure."

"Well, it's a good thing you got her here," Francesca said. "We'll have to begin immediately." She looked at April. "It's going to be all right, April. You're in good hands with me."

Author's Note: MUCH, MUCH longer than the last chapter, but I'm updating this now, and we'll get started on our next chapter NOW. LOVE YOU BUNCHES!