Previously on ATCL: "Hayley is pregnant, and the child is mine."

Caroline blinked twice before downing the rest of her glass in one fell swoop. This was unreal. Klaus had fathered a child. Klaus, the vampire/werewolf hybrid who liked to give her pretty drawings, and was good friends with her, and had told her that he intended to be her last love for goodness sake was going to be a father. And the mother was a skanky werebitch that had snapped her neck.

"Seriously?" She asked, shrieking slightly.

"To be quite honest, Caroline, this is not something that I would joke about." Klaus's forearms were resting on his knees, and he was staring at the carpet.

"How did this even happen?" Caroline was in shock. "And why on earth would you sleep with the wereslut? I mean, really?"

"It was a liquor-fueled one night stand, love. I honestly am quite annoyed by her presence. And that was before I knew of her misdeeds."

"No, no, not that. I mean like…biologically. How is this even possible?" Klaus raised his head, glad that she didn't seem to be furious. He could tell by her stance that she was irritated, but she wasn't yelling at him. That could be a good sign.

"While I may be a vampire, my werewolf side is equal in strength. Somehow or another it…happened." He shrugged. Caroline took in his form, worried at how he was not taking this in his normal manner. He was so defeated, about it. She had always seen Klaus as a strong man. He always seemed to have it all together. But now, this seemed to be the one thing that he couldn't fix. The one mistake he couldn't erase either by money or by force. This was a baby.

"Is this why you decided to stay in New Orleans?" She asked. His answer was going to be a deciding factor, she knew. It would be understandable if he had come down to New Orleans for this and decided to stay—she really was quite proud that he seemed to be taking responsibility for his child—but it would hurt also. He had asked her multiple times to come with him, but if he was down here only for this… Caroline, Klaus, Hayley, and a baby. That sounded like a soap opera.

"No." His answer was firm, and Klaus stood up, pacing a bit across the rug. Caroline sat back calmly, understanding that he needed to get something off his chest. "My siblings and I built this marvelous city over three hundred years ago. It was the happiest that we have ever been; we lived in peace with the witches, werewolves, and humans. I had a protégé by the name of Marcellus. I raised him as my own son, and when he wished to be turned, I granted his wish."

"You loved him, didn't you?" Caroline asked softly, the answer written across his gestures.

"He was a member of my family from the age of ten. Yes, I did." He stopped his pacing momentarily, but soon resumed. "In 1919, Mikael found my siblings and I. He set fire to the city, and we were forced to flee. We thought Marcel didn't make it out." Klaus ran a hand through his hair.

"But he did."

"Marcel took my city Caroline, and rebuilt it into his own. He holds the throne that was once mine, and I want it back. He uses the seal of my family, and has warped into his own. He knew we were alive the whole time. We did not exactly live in seclusion. Marcel would have been welcomed with open arms, had he just come back. Instead he chose to steal my kingdom, and that is not something I will tolerate. As of about a week ago, I am at war." Klaus stopped, and faced the girl on the sofa, who currently appeared to be taking everything in.

"That's… A lot to handle." Caroline said. "But it is a very legitimate reason."

"So you aren't going to tell me off for being territorial?" He asked.

"As if I have any right!" She giggled. "You're speaking to the girl who compelled away the competition for captain of the cheer squad! Though, don't actually tell anyone about that. My mom would kill me." He couldn't help it. Klaus burst into laughter. Caroline gave him a dirty look, before giving up and just joining in. "Just think of it as my kingdom. I was queen of my school. It's like a smaller and much more catty New Orleans!"

"I can certainly draw the parallels, sweetheart. I just find it hilarious that you would find it necessary to compel your competition when you could easily beat them." He said.

"Oh please. It wasn't that I could beat them, I knew that. It was that they were annoying me! I have held the leadership position in every single committee or campaign—unless you count the 'Legalize Designer Drugs' protest; that was run by the stoners and I stayed far away—at that school since I was in the tenth grade. I take my position as leader very seriously, and the uprising needed to be eliminated." She set her empty glass down on the coffee table as she spoke, entirely serious.

"So you understand what I am doing, then." Klaus was impressed. He had expected her to call him something along the lines of 'an overbearing, egotistical, ass', but instead she seemed to almost be condoning his actions.

"Let me guess… Right now you're playing the political game, trying to gain allies while planting seeds of doubt in Marcel's ranks, correct?" Caroline smiled at his stunned nod of affirmation. "I won Homecoming Queen in freshman year by running an underground smear campaign against Gracie Lockwood. And did I mention that all the informants to the cause had formerly been her dedicated helpers?" She arched an eyebrow. "I'm better at playing the game of thrones than many may think."

Klaus clapped his hands for a few seconds, applauding her before coming to sit back down. "You truly are a devious woman, aren't you? I think you will do just fine here in New Orleans. I must confess that I was worried about how you would take everything."

"Quite frankly, the prospect of being able to witness this war is intriguing, and I need to be here anyways, for Katherine." She said. "Now, the fact that all of a sudden you've got a baby on the way is a bit weird, but I can't really judge you on that point. Well, other than the fact that your baby mama is a skanky bitch. I mean… You could get a disease from that one." While…frustrated at the fact that Klaus was having a child with Hayley of all people, they were not together. She had no claim on him or his actions. If he wanted to sleep with the wereslut, then it was perfectly within his realm to do so. Even now, Caroline had no say in what he did, other than as a friend. It may hurt slightly, but it was not her place to tell him that. Taking a deep breath, her gaze shifted from the wall to Klaus, who was currently staring at the carpet once more. "How… How are you feeling about the baby?"

"That's what you're asking me? You aren't mad?" He asked. She seemed to be surprising him constantly today.

Caroline gave him a look. "First of all, I have no claim over your actions. I don't have a right to be mad, okay? So chill. You're my friend; I'm not going to get all pissy because you knocked a girl up. I am concerned about how you're taking this, though. I'm guessing that you weren't one those guys that wanted a brood of children as a human, and that was a thousand years ago, so I can imagine that you're going out of your mind right now!"

Klaus just looked at her for a moment, thanking whomever was out there that Caroline Forbes was on this earth. She was saying everything that he needed to hear. He was bloody terrified at the prospect of being a father, and she seemed to pick up on that. He cared for the child already—even if he detested its mother—and he did not want this baby to be harmed because its father was a monster. "It's a girl. At least, we're all fairly sure of that. A witch did some test, and thinks that the child is female."

"A little girl. That's nice." She smiled genuinely. "Hopefully she'll look more like your side."

"The child…isn't human. She's going to be some sort of hybrid. Something different. Her body heals itself like a vampire's and," Klaus put his head in his hands. "the baby's blood can make hybrids. Without needing doppelganger blood to turn on. Until we worked it out, Elijah and Hayley were convinced that I was going to use my child as a sort of…blood bag to sire my own private army." The distaste was evident in his voice.

"Oh my god." Caroline said. "I mean, I can understand why he would think that; you are the one that daggers your siblings when they piss you off. But that's your own child! I'm sorry, but you would have to be like…sick in the head to actually do that to a baby." She was clearly horrified; whether it was by the thought of a child being used like that, or the fact that it was his brother who made the assumption, he was not sure.

"I know, love. I must confess that I did not care whether the baby lived or died for quite some time. I have had enough of family betraying over a thousand years, and the last thing that I need is one more member to watch over." Klaus's gaze switched from the lovely blonde to the wall. "But then… Hayley tried to get rid of the child with wolfsbane. She was going to put it out of its misery. With a monster for a father, and witches out to kill it, I often wonder if that itself would be more humane. But at the same time..."

"It's your child. And you find yourself protecting it, even if you're scared at the idea of being a father, and whether or not your enemies will use the baby to get to you." Caroline stood and moved to sit beside Klaus, as he clearly was in need of the comfort. No one else would dare give it to him, but he would accept it from her. She placed her hand on his shoulder and rubbed gently in a not-very-intimate gesture, but it was still one that almost crossed their invisible borders of propriety. "You love your daughter already Klaus, even if you don't want to admit it yet. But she'll be here soon, and while I don't doubt that it will be hard being a parent, I think that you will do perfectly fine in the role. The most important thing as a parent is to love your child unconditionally, and support them in every way. I think that you are already there."

"Love is a weakness, Caroline."

"You've got a kid on the way, Klaus. It can't be, anymore."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Back downstairs, Katherine was sitting with the most awkward group of people ever. There was Rebekah, who alternated between hating her guts and ignoring her, Elijah, her ex-boyfriend that was giving her mixed signals, and Hayley, her former minion. Her former minion who happened to be making googly eyes at Elijah. That bitch was going to die. She was Katherine Pierce. She could still rip the little skank limb-from-limb. Elijah may not currently be hers right now, but he was not allowed to be anyone else's, damn it! This could not be allowed to continue. It was time for an intervention.

"So, Hally, was it?" Katherine slid out of her seat between Elijah and Rebekah, stilettos tapping along the floor as she slinked to where the wolf had plopped herself on a barstool.

"The name's Hayley. Which you already knew." The little girl shot back. Oh, she thought she was so rough and tough, living with the Mikaelsons. How wrong she was. Katherine had been around five hundred and thirty eight years, surviving solely on her wits. This child was nothing.

"Oops." She shrugged, as it was obvious that she had purposefully messed up the name. "It is so easy to get my minions mixed up. There are so many of you, after all." Katherine smirked. Step One: Illustrate your target's worthlessness. "Oh wait… I think I remember you. You're the annoying one that seemed to always call at the most inopportune moments. Like that one time when you called me at three in the morning after I was positively exhausted from an amazing night. Don't you remember that, 'Lijah?" She tossed her hair, shooting the observing man a wicked smile. "I believe you asked if we could just kill the caller to make them shut up, no?"

Elijah arched an eyebrow, but Katherine could tell see the smirk playing on his lips. Damn. He was on to her. She would have to up her game. "Now you're just being mean, Katerina."

"Or I could be using you as a good example. You were always the one that told me not to tell lies, after all. Can you really a blame a girl for speaking the truth?" She allowed a pout to cross her face, and batted her lashes innocently.

"Either you two take your flirting to a room, or shut it! I do not want to hear the dirty details of my brother's sordid affair with you. Understand?" Rebekah spoke up, thoroughly unamused.

"Someone's not getting any." Katherine muttered, not really under her breath. "What, are you too hung up on Matt to have a dalliance with anyone else?" Probably not the best thing to say when her ex was listening to the conversation, but her last fuck had flown out the window when Hayley started making eyes at her man.

"Do I sense a bit of resentment in that statement, Katherine? Because you sure as hell look pretty hung up yourself. Last time I saw you, you were your normal slutty self. Now you're like this…washed up version of who you used to be." Rebekah shot back. Sadly, she had a thousand years worth of comebacks under her belt, which just made this verbal war harder.

"Yeah, it's too bad that I had to run from yet another psychotic immortal. Do you know how bulky cosmetics are to carry around?" Katherine whined. "Not to mention I couldn't access my alternate IDs and passports. Trust me, if it had been my choice, I would have gone to a very remote house of mine far, far, away from where anyone could find me. So, sorry that I'm not at my absolute best right now. Be glad. If you had taken the cure, I'm pretty sure a thousand years rots a lot faster than five hundred and some change."

"But there's a difference between you and me, Katherine." Rebekah's eyes glinted evilly as she stood and stalked towards the brunette. "You see, if I had taken the cure, my brothers would have protected me from Silas. You have no one. It must be miserable, being you. You know, waking up to all the bad parts of yourself in the morning, completely alone and terribly weak?" The two women stood eye-to-eye, glaring at each other.

"Touché, Rebekah. Touché." The words may have hurt, but Katherine knew that they were revenge for what she had said to the blonde in Willoughby. And besides, they were true.

Silence reigned for a moment, Elijah eying the two women in the center of the room carefully, as if he might have to break up a catfight in a moment, but it was broken by someone they all had forgotten about.

"Did you two just bond by bitching at each other?" Hayley popped in.

"No!" Katherine and Rebekah answered in unison before throwing daggers at each other once more.

"Well aren't you two just a couple of drama queens?" The little wolf couldn't seem to just shut up, could she?

"You know, I had really hoped that she had disappeared during our conversation. That would have been perfect. I don't normally allow my pets in the house, you see?" Katherine completely ignored the other woman, directing her conversation to Rebekah.

"I wish she would have disappeared weeks ago, but alas! That has not yet happened. Now that Nik is insisting upon it, maybe something will actually get done." Rebekah may not have liked Katherine, but even Katherine was better than her brother's whiny baby mama.

"You know, I never asked why she was here anyways. I would have thought that she would have been with Lockwood." Katherine shifted her attention to Hayley. "You really are not doing any wonders for that baby bump with the baggy clothes, you know? Just because you forgot how to use birth control doesn't mean that you need to let your personal hygiene go."

"You knew that she was pregnant? And why Lockwood?" Rebekah asked.

"I'm the one who told her she was pregnant. I heard the heartbeat when we met up one time. She wanted confirmation, so I sent her to the Deveraux witch. Janie, or whatever she was called, had a reputation for knowing the manners and matters of werewolves. I had a pregnant wolf on my hands, so she was the most logical choice. I assumed it was Lockwood's child because I heard rumors from my other informants that those two were an item. Beyond that, my interest in a minion's child was zero to none." The brunette rolled her eyes, but very aware that she had missed something important.

"I'm pregnant with Klaus's kid." Hayley said seriously. "And I'm stuck in this house because the witches are going to kill me and the baby if I don't stay here."

Katherine clapped a hand over her mouth and giggled slightly before sitting back down in her seat. "So that's what you meant when you said the witches were blackmailing your family last night." She said to Elijah. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "Well, I think it is safe to say that my stay in New Orleans is going to be very interesting."

AN: Well that's it for chapter six! How did you all like it?

I know I took a really unique stance with Caroline's reaction... The majority of the stories that I have read like this usually end up with her throwing things and having a bitch-fest like a five year old child. And Caroline is more mature than that. Also, she's Klaus's friend, not his girlfriend. She has no say in what he does or does not do, other than as a friend. Canonically, Caroline has proven to discuss things out calmly with her guy friends (Stefan, and even Tyler when they were just friends), and she tends to be supportive but doesn't sugarcoat anything. The drama only comes in when she's around her girl friends, because let's face it, girls are full of ridiculous amounts of drama. Caroline is a pretty even-tempered person overall, and I wanted to express that.

I also wanted to show how utterly freaked out Klaus is. I mean... The guy went from not being able to have children for a thousand years, and now all of a sudden he's knocked a girl up. With his shitty childhood and terrible excuse for a father, and I can only imagine how scared he is. And Caroline is the only one that he would even dare express it to.

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! It's the longest one to date (by over five hundred words!) and chapter seven is shaping up to be as long or slightly longer! I'm introducing Camille and Sophie in the next chapter, just so you all know!

Thank you so much for all of the reviews! I truly enjoy reading them.

-Abi