Chapter 17

Mystic Falls, VA

-993-

"She wants me to be there?" Niklaus asked incredulously. This was not customary. Husbands never stood with their wives during birth.

Ayana nodded at him, hurrying him along as he processed what was happening.

"Nik, you came," Caroline whispered as he took her hand, her eyes filling with tears.

"Of course I came, sweetheart. You asked me to. I would do anything for you," He said sweetly, placing a kiss on her temple.

"Are you ready Caroline?" Ayana asked as the midwife made her way into the room. She glanced confusedly at Niklaus, her eyes meeting Ayana's nod, as she prepared.

"Alright, Caroline. It is time. I am going to need you to push now," The midwife said, pushing Caroline's knees up on the bed.

Caroline nodded, knowing that the pain that she was about to feel would soon be worth it. She smiled at her husband as he leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

"You can do this, love. You are so strong," He whispered in her ear, eliciting a loving smile and a blush from his wife.

Despite the brave face that he put on for Caroline, he was terrified. In all of the time that he had to prepare for this moment, never did he imagine being in the room when their baby was born. He could only imagine what his parents were thinking. He was happy that he could be there to support Caroline, but he felt as though he might lose consciousness. As the midwife gave Caroline some breathing exercises, Nik decided to do them along with her to avoid ending up on the floor.

"Now push!" The midwife said, as Caroline screamed, something that Niklaus decided he didn't like to hear. He also decided that he didn't like to feel like all of the bones in his hand were being crushed, but he wasn't going to say anything.

After what seemed like hours of agony for Nik, and probably felt like days for Caroline, the midwife looked at the couple smiling as she held their newborn baby.

"It's a girl," she said quietly, as Caroline looked at Klaus and reached her hands out to take her daughter from the midwife.

"Not so fast, Caroline, we still have the second one to take care of," she said absently, not noticing the look of shock that passed between Nik and Caroline.

"Th-the other one? What do you mean?" Klaus asked, since Caroline looked like her thoughts were somewhere else.

"The other baby, of course. You did know that you were having two, right?" She asked, looking to Ayana in astonishment. After all, if they had a witch looking after them, they should have known.

"I am truly sorry, I did not know," Ayana said quietly, looking at the ground.

"Don't be sorry Ayana, it's not a bad thing! Let's have another baby!" Caroline squealed, the joy of becoming a mother overshadowing the pain of childbirth. But only for a minute.

"AHHHHHH! Nik, where is your hand?!" She yelled, making her husband jump a few feet before offering his un-bruised hand to his… lovely wife.

"Sorry, love. You are doing great," he said, pressing a kiss to her hand before she squeezed tightly, making him cringe.

After another seemingly long period of time, although much quicker than the first, Caroline collapsed onto the bed, as the midwife held up their second child for them to see.

"Another beautiful girl," she said smiling. Klaus could not believe it. An hour ago he was nervous at the thought of bringing one child into the world, and now there are two. And both girls! He looked at Caroline who was smiling happily though her eyes were closed.

As if she could tell that he was looking at her, she opened her eyes and sat up, with some help from her husband to look at their two baby girls.

"So Daddy, have you decided on the names?" She asked him quietly. She had decided to let him name them, a generosity that he had forgotten.

"Actually, I have. My two favorite names for girls are Klara and Carina," he said hesitantly, looking to Caroline for confirmation.

She smiled happily as she looked at her daughters. "Those are the most beautiful names that I have ever heard," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

"What about their middle names?" She asked him, but he shook his head immediately.

"No, no. I picked the first names. Your turn," he said, matter-of-factly as the midwife placed Klara and Carina in blankets.

"Well, the two names that I was considering are Rebekah and Elizabeth. So, Carina Rebekah and Klara Elizabeth?" She suggested, looking at her husband.

"Perfect," he said smiling, as he placed a chaste kiss on her lips. He quickly excused himself to let the rest of his family know about the twins.

"Well?!" Rebekah demanded as soon as she saw her brother.

"Girls," he said with a smile, wondering who would pick up on his addition first.

"Girls? Plural?" Kol asked, thoroughly confused.

"Yes, apparently she was carrying twins. Klara Elizabeth and Carina Rebekah." He smiled as he saw the realization dawn on Rebekah's face.

"You-you named one of your daughters after me?" She asked, awestruck.

"Caroline's idea, but yes. The other is after her mother," he responded.

With the assurance that Rebekah and Kol would spread the news to the rest of the family, Niklaus hurried back to his wife and daughters.

-2012-

As Matt pulled up to the Mikaelson house, he debated whether or not he should greet Rebekah at the door, or wait in the car. His internal struggle was answered, however, when Rebekah came barreling out the door squealing. Matt got out of the car to meet her at the other side.

"Girls! Twin girls! Can you believe it?!" She said as she threw herself at him, catching the blue-eyed blond completely off guard. "Sorry," she said quickly when she realized what she had done.

"It's okay, but what just happened?" He asked, noticing finally how beautiful Rebekah looked in her light blue fitted dress.

"Nik and Caroline, they had twin girls! And they named one after me! Well, middle name, but still!" She said excitedly as Matt opened her door.

"Wow… It's still so hard to picture Care married, let alone a mother… of twins…" He said incredulously, wondering how everyone else would take the news, namely Tyler.

"Yeah, I guess it is. You look nice," She said absently, as he took his seat beside her and started the truck.

"Thank you, so do you," he smiled at her before pulling away.

Kol was lying in Bonnie's bed watching her sleep when he felt the familiar pain in his head that accompanied the changed memories.

"Ahhhh!" He yelled as he tumbled off of the bed.

Bonnie, who had been fast asleep, shot-up, her expression full of confusion.

"What happened, where am I? Oh," she said, flushing when she noticed Kol's state of undress, and then panicking when she saw the look of pain on his face. "What happened, are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine, just give me a minute. You look lovely, by the way," he said with a smirk as Bonnie flushed again.

"Memories?" She asked as realization hit.

"Yeah, I think it's the baby. Oh, wait, babies?" He said, his brows knitting together in confusion.

"Babies?" Bonnie asked, her eyebrows nearing her hairline.

"Um, I guess it was twins. Twin girls. Dang it, I could have sworn it was going to be a boy!" He said, situating himself before joining Bonnie on the bed once again.

"Twins? You're kidding!" She asked, more out of shock than anything else. "Do you know the names?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Klara Elizabeth and Carina Rebekah Mikaelson," he said with a cheeky smile as he kissed Bonnie's smiling lips. "More of that later, for now I would like to continue where we left off," he smirked, making Bonnie giggle.

-993-

As Niklaus walked back into the room, he was overwhelmed with happiness.

"Here you go," the midwife said as she handed one baby to Nik and the other to Caroline.

"Which one is which?" Niklaus asked, genuinely curious as to how they would tell their girls apart.

"Oh my goodness," Caroline whispered, as she looked at their daughters' faces. "Their eyes."

Niklaus was confused before he saw them. The firstborn, Klara, had green eyes like Caroline, while Carina had blue eyes like Klaus. Their beautiful daughters looked exactly the same except for their eyes.

"How beautiful," Caroline whispered as tears threatened to fall. She smiled at Nik, who looked up from admiring Carina to gaze lovingly at his wife.

"Just like their mother," he said, sitting next to her on the bed so that they both could see the new additions to their family.

As the couple and the babies got to know each other, Ayana and the midwife quietly stepped out to give them some privacy.

Thanks so much for all of the support! I've gotten quite a few comments on the last chapter, so I thought that I would address a few. First, in regards to Klaus being open and vulnerable with Damon, I don't think that it was completely out of character. He's already done it this season, and that is without the idea that Caroline is in the past changing him. Second, to those of you who think Klaus is becoming too sweet: I understand the worry, but the point of the witches sending him back was so that he would stop being murderous and crazy, so it is actually a good thing that he is becoming sweet. But don't worry, once Caroline is back, he will be his usual charismatic self. He's just hurting right now. So anyways, I hope the chapter was satisfactory, and sorry if it seems like it is going fast, but it needs to. I want to focus a lot more on what happens after the birth. Also, I had Elena choose Stefan because that was what she did before she turned into a vampire, and before the whole sire bond thing, and I am also a huge Stelena shipper. Thanks for reading! Until next time~