AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well I would say that I hoped this surprised everyone but I guess me updating spontaneously on Wednesday isn't really spontaneous anymore is it? For anyone who follows me on Tumblr (livingdeadblondegirl) you will know that I am snowed in today. I would like to say I've been curled up on my couch doing nothing but writing but that would be lying. But I did get almost all of my Christmas decorations put away (Will be by the time I go to bed), cleaned bathrooms, and helped my youngest get rid of a bunch of toys. So at least I've been productive. I hope to write now after I post this but we'll see.

Hope everyone had a good holiday.

Glad that everyone liked the last part. I forgot to put in the last note that this whole 'section' with the ice skating and the scenes after was one of the first scenes I thought of when I was planning the story. Don't know if anyone cared to know that but I thought I would share. Hope this next part doesn't disappoint.

One more thing, I want to thank all of you guys again for your reviews and the love you have shown for this story. It blows my mind whenever I get a new review, I honestly didn't think I would have this kind of response.

Part 13

As soon as they got into the public restrooms, Klaus grabbed a handful of paper towels to dry Henry off. "Take off your coat for a minute, Henry; let's make sure your clothes are dry and no snow got into them. We don't need you getting sick from walking around in the cold with wet clothes."

Henry did as he was told, stripping off his outer layers so that his father could check him over. Klaus was pleased to see that most of the snow had stayed around Henry's neck so aside from his collar and a little bit of his curls, he was dry and most of the redness around where the snowball had hit him was gone. Another ten minutes and they wouldn't even know he'd been hit.

"Dad, is Caroline going to leave us?" Henry asked out of the blue.

"Why would you ask that?" Klaus asked as he looked at his son in surprise. Kids had a habit of saying odd things unexpectedly, but that question was at the top of the list.

Henry shrugged. "Just asking."

"You don't just ask something like that," Klaus stated. "Is it because Ayanna had to leave?"

Henry shrugged again. "Kind of."

"Well, I know Caroline hasn't said anything."

His son shook his head. "No, she didn't. But adults don't always mean what they say."

"What do you mean?"

"Ms. Jules left last year. She said at the beginning of the school year that she would be there all year, but then she left after Spring Break."

"Well, Ms. Jules got married and then her new husband had to move because of his job. She didn't know that was going to happen." Klaus replied when he realized that Henry was talking about the teaching assistant that he and Lexi had during first grade. He briefly wondered if the twins might be starting to have abandonment issues now that they were getting a little older. He didn't want them to feel that way but considering the way that some of the women in their life disappeared, he couldn't blame them.

"Well, what if Caroline gets married? Is she going to leave then?" Henry asked.

Klaus wasn't sure how to answer the boy's question. How do you tell a seven year old boy that someday yes, Caroline might get married and leave, but that he had no idea if or when it would happen? Kids didn't understand the concept of time when measured in large numbers. "I'm going to be honest here, Henry: I have no idea if Caroline might get married, but I can tell you that right now she's sticking around and as far as I know has no plans to leave."

"Good, because I really like her living with us and I don't want her to leave. It's almost like having a mom around," Henry replied as he pulled his coat back on and zipped it up. As soon as he did, he grabbed his father's hand and pulled a dumbfounded Klaus back outside.

/

"Tyler?" Caroline said in disbelief as she stared into the face of her ex-boyfriend as he hurried up to her.

"I thought that was you," Tyler said in greeting as he smiled. However, his face changed to confusion when he turned his gaze away from her face and down towards her waist.

Remembering the little girl she currently had wrapped around her middle, Caroline looked down to meet her questioning eyes. She smiled at the little girl reassuringly before releasing the hug, taking one of her hands instead. "This is Lexi, Lexi this is a…friend of mine. Tyler."

"Hi," Lexi said in greeting though she didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about it, especially with the way the man was staring at her as if he had never seen a kid before.

"Um, Care. Where did the mini-me come from? She's not…yours is she?" Tyler asked, sounding half-serious half-joking.

Caroline took a minute to look over Lexi; she guessed she could see what Tyler was talking about. The little girl had fair skin, blue eyes and light blonde hair like her own. Of course, the hair was partially hidden since it had been pulled back in two braids that hung out of her hat, but did he really think that Lexi was hers? "You actually think that if she was mine you might not have known about her before now?"

Tyler shrugged his shoulders. "You never know…sometimes people hide the fact that they have kids from those they are dating."

"I wouldn't have," Caroline retorted as she started to get angry with the man in front of her. Did he really think if she had had a daughter, she would have kept her a secret? "Especially not for as long as we were together. That would have been a bit difficult, don't you think?"

By the look on his face, Tyler could tell he had upset her, and he put up his hand as if to ward off an attack. "Hey, I'm sorry."

"Is there a problem here, love?" Caroline heard a familiar accented voice question from next to her. She looked over and saw that Klaus and Henry had returned without her realizing it. Could her day get any worse?

"No, no problem," she assured him.

"Are you sure?" Klaus asked, looking over Caroline's face for confirmation of her answer. He could tell when they had approached that the man in front of her hadn't been a random stranger, but he could also tell that she wasn't entirely comfortable at the moment. Which considering that the man had been apologizing when he had walked up, he didn't blame her for. However, despite her assurances, he positioned himself between Caroline, the kids and the stranger, just in case things got a bit more heated.

"She said there wasn't a problem, didn't she?" Tyler snapped back at the new guy; not liking him a bit.

"That she did mate," Klaus replied, cocking an eyebrow at him. "But perhaps I don't care for the way you are acting around her and my daughter."

"We were just talking…"

"Tyler, shut up," Caroline retorted before she turned to Klaus. "Everything's fine. Just a misunderstanding."

She was relieved when Klaus nodded and seemed to accept her answer though she did catch him throwing a smirk in Tyler's direction. She needed to break up this little run in but not in front of the twins. "Well since you are back, can you take over waiting in this line? I'm going to talk to Tyler for a minute. I'll be right back."

Caroline took her opening and pulled Tyler away from him and the kids. Once they were out of earshot, she snapped, "Have you lost your mind?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Did you have to be so rude? He was just checking on me," Caroline explained. "After all, if your situations were reversed and you walked up to some strange guy talking to me and your daughter, wouldn't you be a little bit protective?"

"So let me get this straight, not only do you spend your whole day with kids, but now you are dating a guy with his own?" Tyler asked angrily.

Caroline could feel her eyes bug out as her mouth dropped open in surprise. She knew that she must have looked comical, but she couldn't stop her reaction if she tried. Did Tyler really think she was dating Klaus? Seriously? "That's my boss, Tyler, not my boyfriend!"

"Your boss?" Tyler asked as he looked back over at the guy they had just left. "But what about…"

"I was out of a job when we broke up remember? Well I got a new one, which means, new boss," Caroline explained.

"I'm confused. Why are you here with your boss and his kids? Isn't part of your job to take care of the kids when the parents can't?" Tyler inquired.

"Not that I owe you an explanation but yes, normally, but I'm not working. The kids asked me to come skating so I said yes," Caroline defended.

"I bet their mom must love you hanging out with her husband and kids," Tyler said snidely. When he saw the look on her face, something clicked in his head. "Unless there isn't a mom."

"No, there isn't," the blonde answered.

"Caroline, you aren't…." Tyler started to ask before she cut him off.

"Why are we even still talking about this?" Caroline asked trying to change the subject. "Or talking at all? We aren't together anymore. You came over I assume to be nice and say hi, which has turned into something that went south very quickly, so I'm just going to say bye and see you whenever, Tyler."

Before he could stop her again, Caroline spun on her heel and headed back to the concession stand. By this time, the others had finally gotten the hot chocolate and had moved away from the stand. However, as she approached she noticed that Klaus's eyes were fixed on her and she had a feeling they probably had been during her whole conversation with Tyler.

As she reached them, Klaus reached out and handed her a steamy cup. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Klaus replied. He glanced over at the retreating back of Tyler before asking. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine. Just ex drama. I'm sorry about that; I didn't think I'd run into him here," Caroline apologized.

"No need to apologize," he countered before he looked down at the twins. "It's going to be getting dark soon; why don't we finish these up then we'll go back out on the ice for a little while before we head home?"

Caroline nodded in agreement, as she sipped her hot chocolate; she was very ready to head home.

Well I didn't disappoint anyone by not having Klaus being super jealous did I? I decided to have Tyler being an ass vs. Klaus being jealous. And you'll see in the next part that bringing Tyler in briefly will do good things for the two of them.

Also, to the guest who reviewed on the last part about how they liked that Caroline was smart and competent, I'm very happy that you liked that. When I was thinking up the story, that was one of the first things I thought of. I wanted her to be a very smart well educated independent person. Glad to see others like that too.

Thanks again to CeCeVolume for being such a wonderful beta.