Previously in "Pages in Between", the Mikaelson siblings bury Mikael.

Chapter Fifteen

Salvatore Summer Estate, Tuscany, Italy – That Same Moment

Damon walked into the stables, a saddle under his arm and a bridle in his hand. He was feeling a bit restless, and one of the best ways he knew how to cure that, other than seeking Elena out, was to go riding, his favorite past time at the summer home. When he got to the stall on the far end, he saw his prized black stallion, Phantom, stick his head out, having heard him coming toward him.

Damon smiled at the horse as he said, "Hey there, boy." He used his free hand to stroke his nose. "Did you miss me? I definitely missed you. How about we go for a little ride, huh?"

Phantom bobbed his head up and down, earning him another smile from his owner. Damon then removed his halter and placed the bridle on before going into the stall and putting the saddle on Phantom's back. Once the horse was tacked, Damon then led him out of the stall and once they were out of the barn, he climbed up onto the saddle and rode out into the fields that surrounded the property.

He had just gotten into a private area when he noticed another horse tied to a tree and he glanced around to see who was there, shaking his head when Elena appeared out from behind the same tree, grinning at him.

Damon gave her a stern look. "Elena, what are you doing out here? You know you shouldn't be riding in your condition."

Elena pouted at her husband. She knew he was going to lecture her, being a protective father. "I just wanted to join you. Is that too much to ask? Besides, I was bored being by the pool." She approached her buckskin mare, Christine, stroking her nose. "I realize you're concerned about me because I'm carrying our baby, Damon, but a little ride isn't going to hurt me."

Damon sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this. "All right, I suppose I could use some company. But, I want you to be careful."

"I'll be careful," Elena said. "Christine is a good girl and she would never do anything that would harm me."

He shook a finger at her, still grinning as he stepped closer once he'd climbed down from the saddle. "I love you, Elena," he said before kissing her softly.

Elena smiled against his lips and returned his kiss. "I love you too, Damon. I'm sorry if I've been a bit of a pain lately."

"Cara mia, you don't have to apologize," Damon said. "You're just hormonal. I mean, just before I went out to the barn to saddle Phantom up, I heard Carrie giving Liam an earful. Poor kid, he felt like he had done something wrong, even if he watched the way Klaus was with Caroline."

His wife smiled again, her dark hair falling around her face as she shook her head. "But, you have to love Carrie, despite all her faults and the ups and downs," she told Damon.

Damon smiled. "Of course I love her, Elena. She's my little girl, no matter how old she gets. And I guarantee you that I'm going to love our grandchild."

"I know," Elena said. "You're going to spoil him or her rotten."

"And I will spoil our other child too," he said as he put a gentle set of hands on her small bump.

Elena smiled as she felt his hands on her bump. "It gives me something to look forward to." She kissed him. "Now, let's go for a ride before I change my mind and we do something naughty out here, huh?"

"I love you, Elena Salvatore," he said before helping her into the saddle on Christine.

Elena smiled as he helped her up. "I love you too, Damon Salvatore." She then got an idea. "Catch me if you can."

Damon then saw her nudge the mare into a gallop. He shook his head and climbed onto Phantom, nudging him into a gallop after her.

He caught up with her just before they got to the edge of the river bank at the back of their property.

Elena saw Damon catching up to her and laughed as she urged Christine go faster. Damon saw what she was doing and urged Phantom to go faster as well. He didn't know what Elena was up to by teasing him like this, but he did know that he wasn't as restless as he was before he came out here.

Elsewhere…

Carrie sat with her feet in the pool, gazing up at the sky. She had come out here to calm down after she had another mood swing. Speaking of which, she felt bad about yelling at Liam earlier. Here she had just told him to keep the stress level down and she wasn't helping matters by being all hormonal. She placed her hand on her small bump, gently rubbing it.

"Hi, sweetheart," an accented female voice said from beside her and Carrie turned to find her aunt Rebekah standing there.

"Hi Aunt Rebekah," Carrie said with a smile.

Rebekah took off her shoes and joined her niece. "I saw you out here by yourself and thought I'd join you." She noticed that Carrie's smile faded. "What's wrong, Carrie?"

"I yelled at Liam earlier."

"Oh, I see, mood swings again, eh?" Rebekah said. "I remember those all too well. I must've put your poor Uncle Stefan through so much hell with the ones I had." She put her arm around her niece's shoulders. "Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You and Liam are inseparable, so if I know him, which I do, he's going to have something special to cheer you up with."

"Yeah, I know," Carrie said. "And the ironic part is that at your father's funeral, when he was all upset, I told him to keep the stress level down so that he wouldn't scare the baby. Guess I didn't really help matters by having these damn mood swings."

Rebekah nodded and gave her niece a gentle squeeze. "Once you make it past the fourth month, they'll go away," she told Carrie.

Carrie raised an eyebrow. "I have to wait that long for them to go away?"

"I know it sounds like a long time, but it'll go by fast," Rebekah said. "You're a Salvatore, and you're strong."

Carrie nodded then turned when a shadow form appeared behind her. Her head turned and she smiled up at Liam and her Uncle Stefan.

Liam returned her smile. "Our ears must've been ringing, because we thought you two were talking about us just now."

The brunette smiled then stood up and hugged Liam, who returned her hug, kissing the top of her head.

Carrie then kissed him softly on the lips. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Liam. I feel so bad."

Liam returned her kiss before stepping back and caressing her cheek. "You have nothing to apologize for, love. I know it was just a mood swing." He kissed her again. "I love you, Carrie. Nothing, not even a mood swing, will make me stop loving you. I'm in this for the long haul. I wouldn't have asked you to marry me if I wasn't."

Hearing his words brought tears to her eyes. "It's no wonder why I love you, Liam. You always know just what to say."

Inside the house, Caroline was sitting on the couch when her cell phone rang. She set her book down on the coffee table then picked up her phone, looking at the caller ID and seeing that it was Vicki Donovan Talbot calling her. "This is Caroline Mikaelson," she said politely.

"Caroline, its Vicki; I have bad news," was all Caroline heard.

"Vicki? Vicki? Vicki, are you there? VICKI!" Caroline was in a real panic when she didn't receive an answer from her friend. What kind of bad news was she about to tell her? Klaus heard his wife's panicked voice and came into the room, sitting on the couch next to her.

"Caroline, are you all right, love? I heard you scream."

"I…I just got a call from Vicki," she replied. "She told me that she had bad news."

"What kind of bad news?" Klaus said.

"I don't know, I didn't get to hear it," Caroline said. "I've got a bad feeling about this, Nik. Whatever bad news she was about to tell me, it could mean anything from Aubrey taking a turn for the worse or something else."

Klaus nodded and took her hands in his, squeezing them gently and then kissing them. He didn't like what was going on any more than she did.

They both turned back to the phone when they heard Vicki calling back through the line. Caroline picked the phone up again but Klaus took it from her. "Victoria, this is Klaus. What's going on?" he asked the other woman.

"It's Aubrey. She's…she passed away last night," Vicki said simply.

Klaus looked at Caroline as he said, "But, I thought she still had four months?"

"Her heart gave out in her sleep," Vicki said. "Zane and I got the call and we're making arrangements."

"Is there anything you'd want us to do?" Klaus said. "We'd come there if we could, but…"

"Just tell Liam and Carrie about it," Vicki said. "They were Aubrey's closest friends and I think they deserve to know."

"We will do that, Victoria. Thank you for calling," Klaus said before ending the call.

Caroline bit her lip as Klaus hung up the phone. "This isn't fair, Nik. I mean, first Mikael, now Aubrey."

"I know it isn't," her husband replied. "I don't like this any more than you do, but these things happen whether we're ready for them or not."

Caroline nodded. "Liam and Carrie are going to be devastated when we tell them."

"Tell us what, Mother?"

Klaus and Caroline turned and saw Liam and Carrie coming in, hand in hand. There was a silence between the four of them until Klaus decided to speak, seeing that Caroline was having difficulty finding the words. "Liam, son…that was Aubrey's mother; Aubrey…well, she passed away last night."

"What?" Carrie said. "But, I thought she had four months left?"

"We did too," Klaus said. "Unfortunately, her heart gave out and she died in her sleep."

Liam tried not to get too upset, remembering his promise to Carrie, even though it was difficult. "What…What are we going to do, Father? It's too dangerous for us to go to the funeral, as much as we'd like to." He clenched his free hand into a fist and then let go of Carrie's hand. "I've got to get some air."

Then, before Carrie could say anything, he walked back out to the pool area. Carrie sighed and then looked at Klaus and Caroline. "I'm really worried about Liam. I know that he's trying to keep himself calm, but I'm afraid that this new piece of information is going to drive him over the edge."

Caroline nodded. "I know, sweetie. You love him and yet, you're at a crossroads as far as what to do. You want to be there for him, but at the same time, you want to give him his space."

"Exactly," Carrie said. "So, what should I do? Should I got to him and try to talk to him? Or should I leave him alone for a while?"

"Why don't you let him be for a bit, sweetie? He probably wants to think about his memories with Aubrey," Caroline said.

Carrie hesitated a bit, but then nodded. She almost forgot that Liam and Aubrey used to date. "You're right. I should give him some space for a bit. When he's ready, I'll go to him."

As she finished speaking, tears stung her eyes and flowed down her cheeks. Caroline looked at Klaus and then got up off the couch, going over to her future daughter-in-law, hugging her and running her fingers through her hair. Klaus got up and hugged both of them.

Outside…

Liam walked into the garden that was located next to the pool. The scent of the flowers was heavenly, even though he didn't really pay much attention to it because he was still in shock over his former girlfriend's death. He knew that it would come, but not this soon. Despite the fact that she had gone peacefully in her sleep, it didn't make him feel any less hurt.

"It's hard to believe you're actually gone, Aubrey," he whispered, more to himself than anyone in particular. "It seems like just yesterday when I found out that you were sick." Tears stung his eyes and he let them fall. "I miss you already." He sobbed. "Why the bloody hell did you have to go so soon? I'm still crying to recover from my grandfather's death."

He then fell to his knees and continued to sob, shaking with sadness.

In New York…

Vicki walked into the house ahead of Zane, her eyes red from all the tears she'd cried and her legs feeling like lead as she forced herself to move over to the couch and sit down on it.

Zane went over to the couch and hugged his ex-wife to him, seeing that she was about to cry again, and placed her head on his shoulder. "I miss her too, Vick."

A sob escaped her throat as she replied, "It just isn't fair, Zane. A parent isn't supposed to bury her child; it's supposed to be other way around. I know she went peacefully, but it doesn't make me feel better. She was my baby, my little girl, and now she's gone."

Her ex-husband nodded and kissed the top of her head then looked down when he saw her unbuttoning his shirt. "Vicki, you're…we can't do this right now," he tried to talk sense into her.

Vicki shook her head as he continued to unbutton his shirt. "I don't care, Zane. I need you to comfort me. Please, just distract me, I beg you."

Zane pulled away before she could get at the last button and made her look him in the eye. "Vicki, listen to me, okay? You're upset and you're not thinking clearly. I appreciate the fact that you want me to comfort you, and believe me, part of me wants to oblige you, but another part of me is saying that it's wrong."

Vicki nodded tearfully. "You're right, I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking."

"Hey, don't apologize," Zane said. "You're emotional right now because of Aubrey." He sighed. "I'll be here for you, just not for that."

Author's Note: I think it's hard to write a couple having "grief sex", but I think I can try and do it in the next chapter, don't you?