AUTHOR'S NOTE: Happy Sunday to everyone! It is update day.

Well I can see that Tyler was not welcomed, don't worry I don't plan on him bringing him back. You'll see why in this next part.

Glad that everyone seemed to like the last part, the kids seem to have their own fans. That makes me feel good about my ability as a writer because I know a lot of readers don't like reading stories with kids in them. When I first thought of this story, I thought of having Caroline coming in while they were still babies but decided to make them older so that they could be more interactive and full characters in the story and I'm happy that I did. They are fun to write.

Anyways, on with the story.

Part 14

A few hours later, the four of them were in the living room in front of the fireplace while the credits of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' rolled on the nearby TV screen. They had spent another hour on the pond skating before calling it a day and heading for home. Klaus had been too tired to think about dealing with dinner and, after rejecting Caroline's offer to cook since he knew she was as tired as he was, they had grabbed pizza to bring home. After dinner, they had went into the living room to watch Christmas cartoons, the kids piled on blankets on the floor while each of the adults had taken seats on opposite couches.

Caroline looked over and saw that neither of the kids had lasted to the end of the movie. Lexi was curled up in a ball, buried in a quilt with only her face showing. Henry was laying on his stomach, using a stuffed penguin as a pillow, his curls in disarray around his face. She smiled at Klaus when she saw he had noticed it as well. "It looks like the day wore them out."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Lexi conked out before the Grinch went to Whoville while Henry hung on until almost the end," Klaus stated. He had been keeping an eye on them since they had turned on the show; their eyes had been drooping since they had gotten home but had refused to admit how tired they were. It was why he had suggested watching one of their favorite Christmas cartoons; he knew they wouldn't make it long.

"They had a busy day, first all of the excitement and then all of the time outside. The fresh air and exercise."

"I'm not sure I'm going to be able walk tomorrow," Klaus joked. He did what he had time for to stay in shape, but the skating had some of his muscles aching in ways he wasn't used to.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Caroline apologized again. "For the run in with Tyler."

"No apologies necessary. Like you said earlier, you didn't know he would be there."

Caroline shook her head. "No, I didn't. I mean, I run the risk of running into him anywhere in the city, considering he lives here and has all of his life, but it's been months since I've seen him, since after the break up, I mean."

"I have to say sweetheart after meeting the bloke, I can't imagine you dating him," Klaus declared as he reached over and turned off the TV. The room was bathed in light from the Christmas tree and fireplace so he didn't worry about turning on the lamps.

Caroline couldn't help but snicker a little at his words. "Yeah, well, he was in rare form today. He was just being an idiot who didn't think before he spoke. Then turned into an ass when you and Henry came back and things just went bad after that."

"He was a bit of a prick."

"He wasn't like that when we were dating," Caroline stated before mumbling. "At least not in the beginning."

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you two split up?" Klaus asked, genuinely interested. He hadn't been impressed with this Tyler fellow earlier in the few minutes he was around him and couldn't see Caroline dating him.

"No, I don't mind. It's not as if it is a big secret. Things just didn't work out. He didn't appreciate how erratic my schedule is nor how time consuming my job can be," Caroline explained. "In the beginning, I think he liked it. I wasn't always hanging around and being a needy girlfriend, but as time went on…"

"He wanted more and more of your time," Klaus finished.

"Exactly. And when the Fells told me about their transfer, he pushed me to get a more eight to five job, like with another family who only needed me during the day or a teaching job, not that I could get him to understand that teaching isn't always an eight hour job…" the blonde recounted.

"You would be an excellent teacher."

"Thank you. Maybe someday when being a nanny doesn't work with my life anymore," Caroline replied with a smile. "Anyways, we started to argue a lot and eventually I was just done with it."

"So you broke it off…"

"My mom thought I was just being stubborn, but it wasn't that. I cared about Tyler, a part of me loved him but, towards the end, I realized that I didn't care enough to fight for our relationship. I knew there wasn't a future for us, we wanted different things," Caroline admitted before she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to unload all of that on you.

"It's not a problem sweetheart. I asked after all," Klaus reminded her. "I have to say that I'm glad you chose to stay employed as a nanny; we'd be lost without you."

"Oh, you would have found someone just as qualified," she said, brushing off his words.

"Maybe as qualified, but it would not have been the same. I don't think you realize how much we enjoy you being here," Klaus retorted as he sat up, leaned forward and looked at her intently. "Henry actually asked me today if you were going to leave us."

"Why would he ask that?"

"Because he likes having you around and is worried that you might someday leave, he asked if you were going to get married and leave like one of his teachers did last year." Klaus answered, he decided not to mention Henry's comment about having Caroline around was like having a mom around. He didn't know how she might react to it. He hadn't had a chance to think on it himself though now that he did it made sense. The twins had never had a full time mother type figure in their lives, Ayanna was more grandmotherly and their aunts were part time.

Caroline looked away from him as she took in his words and gazed over at the sleeping boy. "What did you tell him?"

"I tried to be as honest with him as I could; I told him that I didn't know if you were going to get married and leave one day or not, but for now you planned on staying for awhile," he answered. "I thought that if I said yes but if you did, it might not be for a year or several years, he'd worry. I didn't want to worry him without even knowing if you ever planned on getting married."

"No, you answered it perfectly," Caroline admitted. "It's not something he should worry about now, since it's not even something that's in the realm of possibility at the moment."

"Well that's good to know," Klaus teased. "I'd hate to have to find someone to fill your spot."

"Don't get me wrong: I would like to get married someday, have a family…I would love to be able to have kids, but not until I find the right guy. Someone that could accept me and all of my… flaws," she confessed honestly, before she smiled. "God, I sound like a sappy mess."

"No, you don't," Klaus assured her.

"What about you?" Caroline asked trying to turn the attention away from her and her confession. She knew that she should feel embarrassed about their conversation, and a part of her did but a bigger part of her didn't. Klaus was her boss but over the last few months, they had become what she thought of as friends. Moreover, he had started the whole conversation when he asked about Tyler and then told her about what Henry had said. "Do you think you'll ever get married again?"

"I have no idea. Like you, I'm in no position to really think about it. Despite my divorce, I am not turned off at the idea of marriage. I've seen how happy my brothers are with their wives," Klaus said. He watched as Caroline nodded at his answer while biting her lip. He could tell that she was holding something back. "If you want to ask something, go ahead."

"It's about your ex-wife and the circumstances of her leaving," Caroline replied. "Forget it, I shouldn't have asked."

Klaus stared at her for minute as he thought over what she said. It wasn't a subject that he liked to discuss but he could understand that she was curious. He looked at her and nodded towards the twins. "I need to put them in bed. Then we can continue this discussion."

Caroline watched as he got up and walked over to Henry. Instead of shaking him or picking him up, Klaus got down on the floor next to him so that they were almost face-to-face. She could hear him saying something to his son though she couldn't make out the words. A minute later, Henry got up only to crawl on top of his father's back, his arms draped around his neck and his legs wrapped around his waist. With the little boy on his back, Klaus stood up and headed out of the living room.

She couldn't help but smile at the sweetness of the two of them. Instead of waiting for him to return, Caroline roused Lexi enough to get her up and into her arms to take her upstairs as well. She helped the little girl into some pajamas and into bed, earning a hug before she was asleep again.

When she made her way back downstairs and into the living room, she saw Klaus unlocking a cabinet and removing a decanter filled with an amber liquid. He filled the two glasses in front of them half full before setting the bottle down and bringing them over to her.

"What is it?" Caroline asked. She wasn't sure if she should be drinking with her boss but, at the moment, it didn't look like she had much of a choice.

"Scotch. I think we need something a little stronger hot chocolate for this conversation," Klaus answered as he returned to his spot on the nearby couch. "Thank you for putting Lexi to bed. I didn't want them to wake up while we were talking and overhear something."

Klaus watched as Caroline nodded in understanding before she took a seat the opposite end of the couch as him. He took a sip of the liquid and once it had burned its way down his throat, he asked, "What did you want to know?"

"Um… Katherine mentioned that your ex-wife left when the twins were still in diapers. How old exactly we they?"

"They were around eleven months old; they had just taken their first steps."

Caroline had known they were babies but hearing again how young they were hit her hard. Your children taking their first steps was supposed to be a proud day in a mother's life, not a time when you leave them. "Do you know why she left?"

"I'm sure that if I spoken to her before she left, Tatia would have had several reasons for her dissertation," Klaus replied. "But I think the prevalent one was the fact that I asked her for a divorce a couple of days before."

"Why?" Caroline asked as she took a sip of the scotch in her glass.

"Because I caught her in bed with my brother."

Yep, I'm leaving you with that cliffhanger because I'm evil. And yes, I'm going to have to make you wait a week for the next update. I have been struggling with writing lately so my parts are diminishing, and I am about to start writing their trip to Barbados which I have a feeling it will be hard.

I'd love to hear feedback on what you thought of this part!

So no update until next Sunday, see you next year!