Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing. Only the story is mine.

Note: Previously, in "When You Least Expect It," Caroline learns that Sydney broke up with her boyfriend, and reveals her engagement to Klaus, as well her pregnancy.

Hey, everyone! I've had a few ideas in mind for this next chapter, and I would like to share. Inspiration was a bit lacking, which is why the updates for this story has been delayed. Now that I have time now, I will attempt an update. No spoilers, just sit back and enjoy!

That Evening…

Caroline pulled into her driveway and stepped out of her car, her mind all over the place. She couldn't believe that Sydney had lost her boyfriend to her sister, especially after she had given her advice at Liz and Victor's wedding. To her, it seemed like a bitter piece of irony. However, before she could think about it further, she saw that Klaus' car was also in the driveway. That was weird, since she didn't call him once all day because she was making preparations for the Pierce/Salvatore wedding with Bonnie and Sydney. Not only did she see Klaus' car, but she also saw another car. Okay, this was definitely confusing.

Her curiosity overriding her confusion, Caroline went up to the front door and saw Klaus standing on the porch, along with the people that come in the additional car.

"Nik, what's going on here?"

Klaus cleared his throat. "I do apologize for coming without calling you first, love, but this is something I couldn't tell you over the phone." He presented the couple to her. "Caroline, I believe you remember my stepfather, Mikael Mikaelson, and my stepmother, Eleanor Hamilton Mikaelson?"

Caroline nodded. "Yes, I remember them from Kol's wedding." She shook her head. "I'm sorry for not recognizing you right away. I've had a busy morning."

"We understand, my dear," said Mikael, smiling at her. "My wife and I are here out of concern for you and Niklaus. Elijah contacted us after your meeting with him the other day." His smile changed to a scowl. "Esther has gone too far this time, and I promise you that she won't get away with what she's doing."

"We are going to take that bitch to court," said Eleanor, squeezing her husband's hand as she looked at the younger couple. "I have asked my brother, Andrew, to represent us in this case. He and Mikael haven't exactly been the best of friends, but he's willing to put his opinions aside for my sake."

Klaus nodded as he gently pulled Caroline to him. "You have no idea how much we appreciate this. Although we have agreed to keep this to ourselves until the right time, I think you should know. Caroline and I are engaged to be married. In addition, she is pregnant with my child. I fear what will happen should Mother find out about it."

"You have our word that she won't learn of your impending nuptials, or about the baby," said Mikael. "No piece of paper will change the fact that I raised you, Niklaus. This 'Ansel Bradbury,' or whatever the bloody hell his name is, will never come between us, not if we have anything to say about it." He looked at Caroline. "You have our word as well, Caroline. In the short amount of time you have known each other, you have come to mean the world to my stepson, and you deserve to enter this family without a dark cloud hanging over you."

"Thank you," said Caroline. "That means a lot. I love Nik with all my heart, and I know that he'll be a good husband, as well as a good father to our baby. I may not know you well enough yet, but since we're going to be family if all goes well, I have faith that your brother-in-law can get this whole thing resolved."

She then stepped out of Klaus' embrace and went to open the door. "Would you like to come in? I'd hate for us to stay out here all night."

Mikael shook his head. "As much as we'd like to take you up on your offer, we'll have to take a rain check. Perhaps another time?"

Caroline nodded and, once the older couple had left, she unlocked the door and went inside, Klaus following behind her. Although she didn't expect him to invite himself in, she didn't discourage him, since she could definitely use his company right about now. Klaus then noticed that she was acting a bit differently.

"Is something troubling you, Caroline? You seem different this evening."

"I'd be lying if I said no, so I might as well tell you," she replied. "Remember the 'busy morning' I mentioned? Well, part of that 'busy morning' was spent comforting Sydney. You see, she and Kevin broke up."

"They did?" said Klaus. "I thought for sure they'd be the next ones to marry?"

"Yeah, well so did Sydney," said Caroline. "Turns out Kevin was cheating on her. Get this, the person he was cheating on her with was her sister, Gracie. She's sixteen, but she claims to be a mature sixteen." She scoffed. "It's kind of ironic, really, because at Mom and Victor's wedding, I told Sydney that she should sit Kevin down and tell him that if things between them didn't change, they should consider seeing other people. I know, I know, I shouldn't blame myself because I didn't know this was going to happen, but I can't help but feel guilty."

Caroline then brought her hand down to her belly. "Nik, there's something I need to ask you."

"Ask away, love."

"We both know that I'm not going to look like this in the coming months," she replied. "My body is going to change as the baby develops. Over time, I'm going to get fat and bloated because of the weird cravings I'll be experiencing. On top of that, I'll even be extremely irritable due to the hormones and say things to you that I won't mean." She met his gaze. "What I'm trying to say here, Nik, is will you still want to marry me?"

Klaus approached her and hugged her to him. This was definitely something that was bothering her and knew that he had to comfort her.

"You have absolutely nothing to worry about," he said finally. "I loved you even before we learned of your pregnancy, and I will continue to do so even through all the changes you will be experiencing in the coming months. Finn experienced this through all of Sage's pregnancies, and so did Elijah with Amelia, and my father with Eleanor. So believe me when I say that I have every intention of marrying you."

Caroline smiled. "Thank you." She kissed him. "Speaking of weddings, I've been commissioned to help plan the society wedding of the decade. The couple in question are Damon Salvatore and Katherine Pierce."

Klaus' eyes went wide, recognizing the name immediately. "Damon Salvatore, you say?"

"Yes, I did," said Caroline. "Why? Do you know him?"

"Indeed I do," said Klaus. "It so happens that Damon is the brother of Stefan Salvatore, my sister, Rebekah's husband. He and I met at their engagement party, and you might say that he didn't like me very much. He still doesn't."

"Well, he's going to have to get over his dislike of you," said Caroline. "I'm going to be planning his wedding, and I'll be joining the Mikaelson family, just like his brother joined it. The last thing I need is a groom that holds grudges."

Klaus didn't say anything after that, just listened to what Caroline was saying. In that moment, he couldn't help but fall more and more in love with her. He kissed her tenderly and ran his fingers through her hair. He knew that in the coming months, it would be difficult to hold her close, so he was taking advantage of it while he could.

"Do you have plans for Memorial Day?"

Caroline shook her head. "No, not really." She raised an eyebrow. "Why? What are you planning, Nik?"

"It would seem that you're not the only one whose family has a summer residence," said Klaus. "My family has a mansion in the Garden District in New Orleans. Since I'm taking off for the holiday, I was wondering if you'd be willing to accompany me."

Caroline bit her lip. She definitely wasn't expecting him to be asking her to go to New Orleans with him for Memorial Day, but since he had gone with her to Virginia Beach, it seemed only fair that he return the favor. Plus, the Salvatore/Pierce wedding wasn't going to take place until Christmas, so that left plenty of time for other things.

"I would love to go to New Orleans with you, Nik," she said. "I've never been there before, and I'm going to need a knowledgeable person to show me around the Quarter. Who better than the man I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with, as well as the father of my unborn child?"

Note: I think I'll end Chapter 14 here before I repeat anything. I apologize for the delay in updates. As I said in the previous note, inspiration was hard to come by, and then, my laptop had to be repaired due to a virus, which also delayed the update. That and I had to rewrite several times to get the flow to where I wanted it. Anyway, stay tuned!

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