"What's wrong?" Elijah asked the next morning as he came into his kitchen for a cup of coffee only to see Caroline and Nick sitting at the kitchen table waiting.

"Morning, Dad…" She said before sliding over a cup of hot coffee, "Wanna sit down?"

Nick started to tap his foot lightly, feeling nervous and scared. Nervous because his newlywed wife was pregnant and scared because there was still a maniac willing to hurt any member of his family to get to his wife. To say he was stressed would've been an understatement.

He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of the chair scraping against the floor.

"What happened?" Elijah asked as he sat down across from them both.

Caroline made a face, trying to word everything properly, "Well…It's good news…I'm…"

"She's pregnant." Nick said with a nervous smile.

Elijah stared at them for what felt like an hour before a hint of a smile started to form, "You're sure?"

Both nodded, but Caroline put her hands on the table, "But Dad…Um…We don't know what the hell to do…Mom's gone…Esther is gone…We don't have anyone to help us out and tell us what we have to do right now. I don't know what pills or vitamins to take or what to eat, what not to eat. We need help." She admitted, sadness in her eyes.

Nick looked down slightly while Elijah nodded and reached over to put a hand over Caroline's, "Well I was there when she was pregnant with you…You're going to have to go to the doctor. She'll give you prenatal vitamins and anything else you'll need. I'll go buy some books for you, if you want." He laughed a bit, making Caroline smile. "Congratulations." He said with his own excited smile.

Caroline, wiping the few tears on her cheeks, got up and went around the table to hug him while Nick waited for them to part.

When they did, Nick stood and looked at Elijah, "Now that you know…We need to take care of Mason…Stefan is working harder now to find him, and I think it'd be best if we helped in some way."

Elijah looked between the both of them while Caroline shrugged, "We want him to be behind bars, Dad."

"You want him behind bars, I don't. He needs to be killed." Nick said, "Putting him behind bars won't do anything but give him time to think of ways to get to you. If he gets put in jail, in ten or even twenty years, he'll come back and start all over again and you know that."

Elijah looked at Nick, "Then we go after him."

Caroline sighed, feeling sick at the fact that they were willing to do this, "I think it's a bad idea…We should wait and see if he surfaces and when or if he does, that's when we go after him."

"I'm not taking that chance, especially now." Nick told her while Elijah silently agreed.

Rebecca stared at all the missed calls on her phone and felt bile rise up into her throat. She looked around and made sure Stefan wasn't anywhere near before hitting the redial button on her phone.

"Well it's about damn time you called me back." Mason answered after the first ring.

Once again, Rebecca checked behind her and saw she was alone, "Will you stop calling me."

"Why? Freaking you out?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to stop herself from crying, "I helped you. I gave you what you wanted, so leave me alone."

"But you didn't help me. You warned them after betraying them. If you think that was helpful, you're mistaken. I won't leave you alone until Nick is dead and I have Caroline. And since you're so good at answering your phone, I might just need to kill a certain cop before I kill Nick." He threatened causing her to start to sob.

"Please don't." She cried, begging for her all their lives.

"I won't hurt him if you tell me one thing."

"And what's that?" She said, feeling desperate.

Mason laughed, "Tell me where Caroline and Nick will be tonight and Stefan won't get hurt. I promise you."

She hesitated for a moment, then squeezed her eyes shut, "They have a doctor's appointment tonight at five thirty, I set it up for them. They won't be home until maybe six thirty or seven."

"Now was that so hard?" Mason said before hanging up on her.

Rebecca dropped to her knees and held her head in her hands before starting to rock back and forth, what the hell had she just done?

She just betrayed them, she just helped the man who's tried to kill them all. She sold out her brother and sister in law...but it was to protect Stefan...She knew that she had made a mistake and couldn't justify it. She curled into the fetal position and started to sob. What had she done?

Later that day, Caroline and Nick were walking up their driveway after arriving home from their doctor's appointment and it was nearly dark out. "I know this appointment was a last minute thing but we need to set up appointments early, I hate being out at night." Caroline said, wrapping her arms around herself while Nick put his arm around her. "And I mean it, Nick."

"I know. This was just the first appointment…At least we know the baby is healthy."

She nodded, "It's as big as a little peanut. I love how the doctor said no stress when that's all I have."

Nick sighed, "Everything will be okay, I promise."

"I appreciate the effort, Babe, but you can't promise things like that. Not with everything happening."

"She sure is right." A voice came from behind them, making Caroline jump and Nick shield her.

Caroline felt her heart race as she watched Mason emerge from the shadows of the street.

"Following us still?" Nick said, not one ounce of fear in his voice.

Mason ignored him and looked right at Caroline, "I've been looking for you. He's not all that surprised to see me. That means…you told him?"

She quickly shook her head, fear keeping her from speaking, as tears gathered in her eyes.

"I think you did. And what did I say would happen if you told him, Caroline?" Mason said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"You really thought that I wouldn't find out you were still being a crazy stalker? Come on, you can't be that stupid." Nick laughed at Mason, keeping Caroline behind him.

Caroline looked around desperately for anyone but no one was outside and the street was empty, as it usually was at this time of night.

Mason pulled out his gun and pointed it to Nick, "Wanna keep talking? I told her I'd kill you if she told you. She obviously did."

Nick reached behind himself and tried to keep Caroline behind him but she pushed his arm away and maneuvered herself in front of him, "I'm sorry. He saw the bruise and I couldn't lie. He basically figured it out, Mason. I'm sorry." She begged him, watching as his grip on the trigger faltered a bit.

Nick took a step toward her and Mason pointed the gun to him, making him pause, "You think that changes anything, Caroline? You told him when I warned you not to."

"I know. I screwed up, I'm sorry. Just don't hurt him please. It's my fault." She said while slowly reaching up to put her shaking hand on his wrist, "Put the gun away, please."

"Give me one good reason." He laughed at her, her grip not making him move, he kept pointing it at Nick who was scared out of his mind with no way of being able to do anything. If he moved, he'd be shot. If he stayed still, he had no idea what Mason would do to Caroline.

Caroline wracked her brain for a reason to get him away, she didn't exactly have the advantage she did before. She knew this would bite her in the ass but she had to do something, "I'm pregnant and you could make me lose the baby if you hurt him. The doctor just told me I can't have too much stress, Mason."

Nick could've screamed at her right there as he watched Mason's eyes light up as he slowly lowered the gun, "You're pregnant?"

She nodded jerkily, still holding his wrist, "Yes…"

Mason put the gun in his pocket and wrapped his arms around Caroline, making her gasp in fear, whispering into her ear, he said "We're gonna have a baby."

He barely finished his sentence before Nick pulled him away from Caroline and punched him, knocking him to the ground.

It took Mason a moment to lift himself, Nick grabbed Caroline by the arm and they quickly made their way to the car. Caroline turned and saw Mason's arms raised in the air, "I won't hurt him…Not until our baby is born, okay? I'll still be around though." He said with a smile that made her skin crawl.

Nick pushed Caroline into the car and climbed in himself and started the car. Caroline kept looking back and saw Mason slowly walk down the sidewalk, calm and collected.

"He's leaving." She said while Nick put the car back in park, they had barely moved an inch.

Nick rubbed his face, trying to regain the anger that was building up within him before pulling his phone out and calling Stefan.

Rebecca had composed herself by the time Stefan had come home, she had her phone in her hand and was debating whether or not to tell him that Mason had called when he came and sat beside her.

"How was your day?" He asked, putting an arm around her shoulder and leaning back on the couch.

She hesitated for a moment and shrugged, "It was normal, I guess. I just tidied the house a bit and watched some movies. What about you?"

"Same old, same old. Too much work." He said while looking at her, "You were crying today…" He said, taking notice of her eyes being slightly puffy.

Rebecca looked away quickly, "I watched a couple sad movies."

"You can't really lie to me you know. What's wrong?" He asked, tightening his arm around her gently.

She sighed and looked down at her lap, "I need to tell you…something and you have to believe me when I say that…I don't mean to hurt anyone."

Stefan stared at her, unsure of what she meant but still curious, "Okay…"

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him, "I um...I got a call today fro-" She was interrupted by his cellphone ringing. She shrugged a little, telling him to answer, she knew she had to tell him but she couldn't help but stall.

He sighed and pulled his phone out and answered when he saw it was Nick calling, "Hey…Wait is he still there?" Stefan answered as he stood from his place beside her and she watched and tried to listen to what Nick was saying but couldn't make it out.

"Stefan, what happened?" She asked but he didn't answer. Guilt swelled in her chest, whatever happened tonight was her fault...

"Okay, I'm on my way." He said after another minute of listening and hung up, "I gotta go to Nick's. Mason was there, he tried to shoot Nick and grabbed Caroline." Stefan explained while picking up his car keys.

Rebecca's eyes widened, "Did he hurt Caroline?"

Stefan shook his head, "I don't think so. You want to come with me?"

She nodded and put her shoes on quickly before following him outside the house, they were going to hate her...

Caroline looked over to Nick, both of them still sitting in the car, "You okay?" She asked him while sitting on her hands to keep them from shaking.

"No. I'm angry." He told her through gritted teeth.

"We'll get through this, we'll make sure he's locked up."

Nick scoffed, "That's not even what I'm mad about, Caroline."

She scratched the back of her head, "Then why are you mad?"

"I'm mad at you because you just put yourself in harm's way without a second thought and you told him you were pregnant; which is something that I didn't want him to find out." Nick said, his voice slightly raised.

Caroline crossed her arms and stared out the window, "I did it to protect you."

"That's the thing! You're not supposed to protect me! You're pregnant with our baby, the baby is your priority, not me!" He yelled, losing his patience, "If I get hurt that's not a big deal, but if you get hurt, the baby gets hurt. You need to start exercising some self-preservation skills, especially now."

"You can't expect me to choose between you and the baby!"

"Yes I can! The baby is our priority. Not me."

She was about to reply to him when they saw Stefan pull up behind them and Caroline climbed out of the car.

"We'll finish this later." Nick told her as he himself got out of the car and she shook her head.

Rebecca ran up to Caroline and hugged her, "Did he hurt you?"

Caroline shook her head, "No, just scared me."

Stefan walked up behind Rebecca and looked at both Caroline and Nick, "Why did he show up now?"

Both shrugged, Caroline answered while they all walked into the house, "He just walked up to us, like he was waiting. When Nick didn't give the proper reaction, he got mad. He knew I had told Nick he was back. I don't know what the hell he expected."

"He pulled a gun out and pointed it at me, he was talking about how he had warned her of what would happen and she got in front of me." Nick continued for her while Rebecca felt her stomach churn as she sat down at the kitchen table. "She talked him down and told him she was pregnant. Then he hugged her and I knocked him down and got her to the car but he was already leaving."

Stefan looked at Caroline, he had already known she was pregnant, thanks to Rebecca, "Why would you tell him you're pregnant? You realize this is going to either make him angry or want you even more?"

"I had to say something to get him to calm down, he was going to kill Nick." She said, crossing her arms tight while leaning against the kitchen wall.

"He didn't say anything else? Maybe hinted at where he's staying, maybe?" Stefan asked.

Nick shook his head, "No we wouldn't be that lucky."

Caroline looked at Nick then Stefan, "He said we were having a baby…And, Nick you didn't hear him when we were going to the car? He said he wouldn't hurt you until I had…our baby…"

Stefan looked confused for a moment, "He meant we as in you and him?"

Caroline nodded, "That's what he told me when he was hugging me."

Nick looked at Caroline, "Why would he say that?"

"He's crazy, I don't know." She shrugged and Rebecca was the one to speak up.

"Caroline…Did he…Did you sleep with him?" She asked hesitantly.

Blushing at the fact that they all were giving her looks, Caroline scoffed, "No. I'm not that stupid or crazy."

Stefan rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "Well he is crazy and is sickly in love with you so maybe in his head it's his kid."

Nick was about to say something when they heard a phone start to ring and Rebecca realized it was hers. She brought it out of her pocket and set it on the table after seeing the number that had been calling her for days illuminating her phone. She had decided to let it go to voicemail but Caroline grabbed the phone because the ringtone was beginning to annoy her. "Whoever this is, she'll call you back."

Rebecca started to panic and reached for the phone, "Caroline give me the phone!"

Caroline froze in horror when she heard Mason's voice over the phone, "Well tell her to call me back whenever she has the chance, Babe. Oh, and tell her I said good job on setting up your appointment last minute but we're gonna have to try a different night, ya know since I didn't get to kill Nick this time." He had said before hanging up.

Rebecca snatched the phone from Caroline and stood from her chair, "Caroline?"

It took her a moment to compose herself, Mason's words repeating in her head over and over again, she stood and glared at Rebecca, "How could you?!" She yelled at her.
"It's not what you think, Caroline, I swear!" Rebecca said with her hands out in desperation.

"Hey what the hell's going on?" Stefan asked in confusion.

Caroline looked at Nick and Stefan, "Guess who that was on the phone. Mason." She said, her voice full of disgust and anger, she turned back to Rebecca and started walking toward her, "He wanted me to tell you that you did a wonderful job with setting up our appointment for us last minute but you're gonna have to try again because I screwed up his plan on killing Nick tonight."

Both Nick and Stefan, who'd been watching in utter confusion, shouted in shock, "What?!"

Playlist

Traitor - Daughtry (must listen)