Previously in "Pages in Between", Carrie reunites with Liam, her former boyfriend from high school. Things get even better when he asks her to marry him.

Author's Note: To the guest who asked, we changed her name to 'Carrie' for story purposes. My co-writer and I are okay with the name change; we hope you are too!

Chapter Nine

Donovan Photography Studio (from last chapter)…

"It's okay. I'm partially to blame. I am an expectant woman aver all. It comes with the territory," Andrea said with a smile as she stayed where she was.

Liam nodded. "Well, at least I'll know to be careful what to say or do around Carrie, but at the same time, I'll be sure to do things to make her smile."

Carrie leaned over the couch just then and smiled at the group. "What would you do to make me smile, Liam Mikaelson?" she asked as she kissed him soundly.

Liam nodded and returned her kiss. "I would leave love notes on your pillow, a vase of flowers on your bedside table and I'd even sing for you; all in that order," he replied. He kissed her again. "The last thing I want is for my girl to be upset because of something I did or said."

Carrie kissed him back. "You're too good to me, you know that? How did I get so lucky?"

Maria playfully glared at them. "Oh, I think Liam is the lucky one in this case."

All the girls giggled after Penny came up with Riley's arms around her. "I think we all are," the girls said in unison, all smiling at the same time.

Liam, Riley, Gavin, and Dante all smiled when they heard their significant others saying how lucky they were.

Later…

Dante carried Andrea up the stairs when she fell asleep. They had all had dinner then stuck around to watch a movie before Maria and Gavin left the other three couples alone. Placing Andrea gently on the bed, Dante removed her sneakers then pulled the covers out from beneath her, putting them over her and smiling as he watched her take the covers and curl up beneath them.

Downstairs, Carrie snuggled up in Liam's arms, yawning. Liam smiled as he saw her yawn. "Are you tired, love?"

Carrie nodded and Liam picked her up, carrying her to their room, laying her down gently on the bed before climbing in with her, kissing her softly.

Back downstairs, Riley picked Penny up in his arms then gently eased the door open to his downstairs bedroom, carrying her into it and laying her down, putting the covers over her. He reached up and stroked a tendril of her dark hair out of her face, and was about to leave her alone when he felt her strong fingers grip tightly around his wrist. "Don't go; I don't want to wake up alone," she said softly when he turned to look at her.

Riley smiled at Penny and returned to her, climbing into bed with her. "Don't worry, Penny. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

Penny returned his smile and cuddled up next to him.

The Next Morning…

Andrea eased the door open to Riley's room, Dante right behind her and he quickly snapped a photo of the other couple before they slipped right back out the door before the two could wake up.

Andrea covered her mouth to stifle a laugh as she closed the door. "We are so going to get in trouble for this when they see the picture you took of them."

Dante smiled. "I know, but it was just too adorable to resist." His eyes twinkled as he added, "How about we take Liam and Carrie's picture next?"

Andrea nodded and they went in the direction of Liam and Carrie's room.

When they got there, they could hear soft giggles coming from Carrie and "Shh!" coming from Liam. They opened the door and the other couple jumped out and both said 'BOO!'

Dante rolled his eyes. "And here I thought you were asleep."

Liam smiled at his friend. "You thought wrong, mate. Unlike Riley and Penny, Carrie and I are a lot sneakier than you might think." He looked at Carrie. "Isn't that right, love?"

"Right," Carrie said. "We do commend your efforts, though." She laughed. "You should've seen the looks on your faces. That was priceless!"

"Very funny, Carrie Veronica," Dante said. "I guess I should've known that you take after Uncle Damon and you like to turn my tricks around and use them against me."

Carrie smirked. "Consider that payback for taking my doll when I was little."

"What doll? I don't remember taking your doll," he said with a teasing grin and Andrea smacked his chest.

"That was how Carrie and I first became friends. Gavin took mine and you took Carrie's," she reminded her boyfriend with a smile.

When it dawned on him what she was referring to, Dante laughed. "Oh, that doll. Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I was a kid then, I didn't know any better. Later, my dad made me give it back, and Uncle Matt made Gavin give Andrea's back to her."

Liam laughed as well. "I remember doing that same thing to Anastasia when she was two, only it wasn't a doll, it was one of her favorite stuffed animals, a rabbit, I think. She got so furious at me that things turned physical. I was four years old at the time and while I was stronger than her, Ana was angrier. She scratched and bit me until I finally gave her rabbit back to her. I ran to Mother afterward and showed her my arms. There was blood, even though the marks weren't too deep."

"Aw, my poor baby," Carrie said, kissing him. "I guess I'll have to remember to always stay on Ana's good side, huh?"

Meanwhile…

Anastasia tackled her opponent in her karate class down and gave the male a smirk, which he returned. She got up then let her hand reach out to help the other person up, and he took her offering, clapping her on the back as she heard her parents cheering her on from the stands.

Caroline noticed the smirk on Klaus' face. "What's that smirk for, Nik?"

"I think our little girl fancies that boy down there," her husband replied. "I saw the way she was smirking at him as she pinned him down."

Caroline then noticed how Anastasia was looking at the boy she had tackled and then helped up. It looked like she was flirting with him. "You're right, she does like him. Well, I guess I can't blame her. I mean, he is kind of cute. He doesn't seem to attract any of the other girls in the class except for Ana."

"Sure seems like it," Klaus said. "We should have him over for dinner and get a better idea of where this little romance is headed."

Caroline nodded. "Well, let's not do anything until we've talked to Ana first. She may not like us interfering."

Klaus nodded as well. "Good idea, love. It wouldn't be right to plan this without consulting with her."

They smiled at their oldest daughter when she finally came over. "I saw you two glancing over at me and Jasper and I wanted to assure you that he's perfectly harmless," she said with a shake of her dark-blonde hair.

Klaus nodded. "Well, I should hope so. We want nothing but the best for our little girl, and if he weren't harmless, I'd have to call your uncles and have them help me deal with him personally. I think your Uncle Kol once told me how he hung a classmate of his on the flagpole in his underwear."

Caroline playfully elbowed her husband in the arm. "Niklaus, no, that's not how we handle things!" She looked at Anastasia. "Don't mind your father, Anastasia. What he was really trying to say was that we'd love to have Jasper over for dinner. You know, to break the ice a bit."

Anastasia glared at her father and looked at her mother. "I think that could be arranged. In fact, he asked me if he could come over after class."

"That's wonderful, honey," Caroline said. "And don't worry; your father will be on his best behavior." She elbowed her husband again. "Won't you, Nik?"

Klaus winced as he felt her elbowing him again, having not recovered from the first one. "Yes, sweetheart, I'll behave myself. We'll even tell Lily, Christian and Sebastian to be on their best behavior as well. The last thing we want is for you to be embarrassed in front of the boy you fancy."

"Great, I'll be sure to tell Jasper what you said," Anastasia said. "With any luck, I might just have a date for Liam's wedding and your vow renewal."

Later that Evening…

Anastasia pulled up to her grandfather's mansion and smiled as Jasper took it all in. "Well, I knew he was rich, but I didn't think he was THAT rich," he said with a still shocked look on his face.

"He built it for my step-grandmother, Eleanor, for their first wedding anniversary and they've had it ever since. If you're just as impressed by the outside, wait until you see the inside," she said as she climbed out of her Ford Mustang and watched as he did the same.

No sooner did Jasper climb out of the car than Anastasia saw Liam's Ford Escape pulling into the driveway. Shortly after, she saw her older brother climb out, helping Carrie out. Not sure what they were doing her, she went up to them. "What are you doing here, brother?"

Liam smiled at his sister. "Father called me earlier and invited me." He then noticed Jasper, his smile fading. "Who's this then?"

"That's Jasper, Jasper Rollins. He's in my karate class," Anastasia said. "Please, Liam, don't embarrass me. I fancy him, and I don't want to scare him off."

"You don't have a thing to worry about, Ana," Carrie said. "Liam will be on his best behavior." She gave him a stern look. "Isn't that right?"

Liam nodded. "I'll behave." He looked toward Jasper. "I just hope it is as long as HE does."

Anastasia frowns. "He knows to behave around my family. Trust me, he comes from a rich family too, and he's got a lot of family, including people that he calls his aunts and uncles, like we do," she said before turning on her heel to hurry toward the house and the front door.

Carrie smacked Liam's chest. "Now you've upset her! I want you to go find her and apologize to her," she demanded and cut off his protest by holding up her index finger and pointing to the way his younger sister went.

Liam went after Anastasia and found her sitting on the bottom step of the grand staircase. He sighed and went to sit down next to her. Anastasia scowled at him. "Go away, Liam! Haven't you done enough?"

"Ana, love, I'm sorry," he replied. "I didn't mean to upset you. You're my little sister and I only acted like that because I wanted to protect you."

"You don't have to protect me, Liam," Anastasia said. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

Liam nodded. "I know you can. It's just that…I can't help it." He sighed. "Ana, I know you're upset with me and I'll understand if you never want to have anything to do with me after this, but I'm really sorry."

Anastasia looked at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes, as well as heard the sincerity in his voice. "All right, I suppose I could forgive you. But, if you behave like that again, I swear to God…"

"I won't behave like that again," Liam said. "I know that if I do, I'll catch hell from Carrie."

He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed the side of her head in an affectionate, brotherly manner before smiling at Mikael and Eleanor as they approached the two siblings. "Hello, you two," their grandmother said with a smile.

"Hi," they said in unison, exchanging a final smile before standing up and hugging their grandparents.

Eleanor smiled at her grandchildren. "I'm so glad to see you. I've heard that one of you got engaged recently."

Anastasia points at Liam. "He did! To Carrie Salvatore," she said with a beaming smile.

"Congratulations, Liam," Mikael said with a smile at his second oldest grandson. "I hope that you and Carrie are very happy together."

Liam smiled. "Thank you, Grandfather. I love Carrie very much."

"I'm glad that you do, and I look forward to seeing my great-grandchild arrive into our lives," he said as he let his hand come down and pat Liam's shoulder before he turns when the door opens again to reveal Carrie and Ana's date/potential boyfriend. "And who is this gentleman?"

Ana goes over to Jasper. "This is Jasper Rollins, Granddad, he's my, um, he's my boyfriend, I guess you could say," she stutters out.

"It's very nice to meet you, Jasper," Mikael says with a smile as he holds out his hand for the young man to shake, which he does firmly.

Jasper smiled as he shook Mikael's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Mikaelson. Your granddaughter is a very special young lady."

"She is, isn't she?" Mikael said. "And, please, don't be so formal. Call me Mikael. Mr. Mikaelson makes me sound old."

Jasper nodded. "All right, Mikael it is. Again, it was nice to meet you."

Carrie smiled at this and went over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I see Ana has accepted your apology."

"She has," Liam said. "I even promised that I wouldn't get all protective the way I did."

She smiled again and snuggled into his arms. "Are we going to start this dinner soon? I'm eating for two, you know," she said with a soft giggle.

He chuckled and felt her shiver. "Are you cold?" he asked and she shook her head but he still removed his jacket and covered her with it.

Carrie smiled as Liam placed his jacket on top of her, kissing him. "Thank you, Liam."

"You're welcome, love," he replied. "I didn't want you to be cold."

He went to return her kiss when Eleanor spoke up. "Come on, you two, dinner is about to be served."

Carrie nodded at her and whispered to Liam, "Guess I'll have to wait until later for that kiss."

Liam nodded and took her hand, leading her to the dining room. Ana and Jasper watched them go and followed after them, holding hands as well.

"I like your family, especially your brother," he told her as they joined the rest of her family.

"Liam and I are pretty close," she said with a smile as she sits down and he scoots her chair in for her.

Jasper nodded as he took his seat next to her. "I could tell from the way he got all territorial earlier."

"He was trying to protect me, the way a big brother would protect his little sister," Ana said. "He's always been protective of me, even though he took my stuffed rabbit when I was two. I got so mad at him that I bit and scratched him until he gave it back." She heard him laugh and raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"I'm just picturing you as a tough little two-year-old," Jasper said. "And the way it makes you so tough in karate class."

"You like seeing me all tough, don't you, stud?" she asked with a grin as she leaned over until her head was in his shoulder, batting her eyelashes at him.

He chuckles then pushes her back upright. "You can flirt later, Ms. Mikaelson," he said as he opened his napkin and placed it in his lap.

Ana laughed slightly. "Okay, I'll behave…for now."

She placed her own napkin in her lap then smiled up at her parents when they came into the dining room hand in hand. "Well, it's about time that you two joined us," she said in a teasing voice, her smile matching it.

Klaus smiled at Ana. "Well, we didn't know that we were supposed to check in with you." He looked at Caroline. "But, if you must know the reason we were delayed, it was because your mother decided to be a bad girl and pulled me into my old room, where we made out like teenagers." He then began to tickle her with his free hand. "Didn't we, you naughty girl?"

Caroline laughed as she felt her husband tickle her, not caring if she was heard by everyone. "Nik, stop it!"

"Hmm, no," he said as he kissed her cheek then pulled out her chair for her and sat down after she did the same.

Carrie watched this and put her hand on her mouth to muffle a laugh as she whispered to Liam, "Were they always like this?"

Liam looked over at his parents and then back at Carrie, whispering back, "I think it's gotten worse with old age."

Carrie tried to muffle another laugh, but it came out anyway.

"What's so funny over there?" Caroline asked as she looked over at her oldest son and her soon to be daughter in law.

Liam put on his best innocent face. "Nothing, Mother," he replied.

"It didn't sound like nothing," his mother replied. "You're laughing about something. What is it?"

Carrie laughed even harder and Liam joined in with her against his will.

Klaus smiled at his wife. "Oh, honestly, Caroline, don't you remember having laughing fits when you were pregnant?"

She thinks about it then shakes her head. "No. Not like the one they're having," she said as she sent a stern look toward her son and daughter in law then to her daughter and her boyfriend when they joined in.

Klaus couldn't help but join in on the laughter that was going on, much to Caroline's chagrin. "Nik, you're impossible sometimes, you know that?"

"Oh, come on, love, we're just trying to have a little fun," Klaus said with a grin as he scooted his chair closer to his wife's but she was having none of it.

Klaus smirked at her and said in a sing-song tone, "Caroline, do I have to tickle you again?" He then tickled her again.

Laughing, Caroline said, "Nik, no! Stop it!"

"And why should I, love?" he asked in her ear as he put his arm around her then continued to tickle her.

Caroline laughed and then tickled him back, laughing loud and hard.

Mikael and Eleanor glanced at each other then joined in on the laughter. Later, after the dinner, they were just climbing into bed when a knock came on the door.

Mikael went to the door, Eleanor following behind him. When he opened the door, he saw Sabrina standing there. "Sabrina? Sweetheart, what are you doing here?"

Sabrina sobbed. "Father, I have some bad news. I caught Greg sleeping with another woman."

Greg Williams was Sabrina's boyfriend. They had been dating for over three years. Mikael hugged his youngest daughter and led her into the mansion. Eleanor saw that Sabrina was crying and hugged her as well.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you two, but I had nowhere else to go," she explained to them once she pulled away to wipe away her tears.

"You're not ever a bother, darling," Eleanor said as she patted her daughter's back.

"Your mother's right, sweetheart," Mikael said. "You're always welcome here. This is your home as well as ours."

"Thank you, Father," Sabrina said. "I really need my family right now."

"Well, we'll call your brothers in the morning. For now, why don't you go up to your old room and get some sleep?" Eleanor suggested as she put an arm around her daughter's shoulders and guided her up the stairs, her husband following behind her.

Sabrina smiled at her mother. "Thank you for allowing me to stay here, Mother. I don't know what I would've done if I didn't have you or Father to turn to."

"That's what family is for, love," Mikael said. "Whenever one is in trouble, we reach out to help them. Don't you worry now; we'll deal with this together. Obviously, Greg was a fool for choosing that other woman over someone as wonderful as you. Though, to tell you the truth, I didn't like him from the moment I met him."

Eleanor looked sternly at her husband. "Mikael, that's not a nice thing to say!"

"I'm only speaking the truth," Mikael said. "He was never worthy in my eyes, and he just proved it by breaking our little Sabrina's heart."

Author's Note: Well, there you have it. You got an appearance from the lovely Sabrina, the younger of the only two Mikaelson siblings that are females. I hope you enjoyed seeing her!