AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know I said I wasn't going to post until Sunday but my weekend is shaping up to be pretty busy so I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to spend on the computer so I wanted to make sure I got this posted.

I'm glad that everyone seemed to like how I handled the Klaus/Caroline/Elijah triangle. And I think pretty much everyone hates Tatia with a fiery passion. I wanted to make her totally hateable but not make her neglectful towards the kids because Klaus would never stand for that. Originally I was going to have her have died but decided to go this route because 1) I didn't want her to haunt the two of them when they get together 2) I thought it added something to Klaus's background and his character.

I have gone through and added titles to all of the parts. I'm not sure why I didn't before because in my head, they always had titles.

I want to thank everyone again for all of the awesome reviews! We hit over 400 after this last part and that just blows me away! I love each and every one of them!

And thanks to CeCeVolume for betaining this!

Part 16 Christmas Greetings

O holy night, The stars are brightly shining;

At the sound of the familiar Christmas carol erupting from her phone, Caroline rushed over to grab it. She glanced at the screen for a minute, a smile blossoming on her face, before answering it. "Merry Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas, sweetheart" Klaus replied. "I've got two excited elves here who are dying to talk to you."

She couldn't keep the smile from growing bigger on her face as the voices of the twins drifted through the phone. She could hear them arguing over who was going to talk to her first. Thankfully, their father had a way around it. "I'm going to put you on video, if it's okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Caroline assured him. It was late morning so she had been up for awhile. Her mom actually had the day off so Caroline had gotten up and made them a big breakfast for just the two of them. Afterwards, she had taken a shower and did her hair before dressing in her cream-colored dress that she planned to wear to the Gilbert's.

A few seconds later, the screen on Caroline's phone was filled with the smiling faces of Henry and Lexi. "Hey, there are my sweeties. Merry Christmas, you two."

"Merry Christmas, Caroline," they replied simultaneously.

"So I can tell that the two of you are about ready to explode, so tell me what you guys got for Christmas," Caroline told them. "One at a time though, and go back and forth. Henry first, then Lexi."

Henry glanced smugly over at his sister before he took his turn. "Dad got me a bearded dragon!"

"A dragon?" Caroline asked.

"Well, it's not really a dragon, it's a lizard but it's called a dragon because it looks like one. I got a tank and everything to take care of it," Henry explained enthusiastically. He went on for a few minutes telling her everything about his new pet and the book that came with it to tell him how to take care of it. "I get to keep him in my room until we leave on vacation, then Dad is going to have someone dragon-sit him."

"That's a good thing; after all I doubt we could take him with us," Caroline stated. "Alright, Lexi, what about you?"

"I got tickets to go see the gymnastics team when they come to town. You know the ones that were on the Olympics?!" Lexi squealed excitedly. "And Daddy said it would be just me and him."

For the next ten minutes, the twins rattled on about the presents they had received and catching her up on what she had missed since she had left Boston three days before to fly to her hometown for the holidays. It was weird to not be there with them. Once they had exhausted the conversation, she told them good-bye and told them that she'd see them in a few days before they handed the phone back to their father.

"Sorry to intrude on your holiday but they started begging me to call you as soon as they got done unwrapping their presents," Klaus explained. "They…they've been missing you a lot this week."

"No, I'm glad you called. I've been missing them too. I thought of them first thing this morning when we were unwrapping presents and the way their eyes would be lighting up," Caroline declared. "But I hope you know I'm not cleaning that lizard's cage. That is so not in my job description."

Klaus let out a chuckle at her statement and the look on her face. "Don't worry about it; Henry will be taking care of him. With a little help from me when he needs it."

"Whew, glad to hear that we agree on that," Caroline joked.

"How is Mystic Falls?" Klaus asked.

"Nice, but after a few days, it's starting to feel a little small. I've gotten too used to living in a big city," Caroline confessed. "But I'm enjoying seeing my family. Mom got a tree, which we decorated. You know when you grow up; the cheesy homemade ornaments are really embarrassing. Especially when you are an only child and you know you were the one to make all of them."

Klaus smiled at her self-teasing. "Trust me, your parents think they are more valuable then any other ornament you could buy."

"Yeah, well Lexi and Henry's ornaments are actually cute," Caroline declared before changing to the subject back to what he had asked. "Anyways, I had dinner with my dad, Stephen and his daughter last night, and today my mom and I are going over to the Gilbert's along with Bonnie and her grandmother."

"I'm glad to hear it. I know you were looking forward to seeing all of them," Klaus stated, his eyes running over her image on his phone. The first thing he noticed was her long blonde hair was down, hanging in loose curls around her shoulders with one side clipped up. That coupled with her dress made her look angelic. "You look lovely."

Caroline looked down at her off white dress as she ran a hand through her hair at his words. "Thank you. It's a little dressed up for dinner at a friend's house."

Klaus shook his head. "Nonsense. You look very Christmasy."

She couldn't help the laughter pour out of her at what he said. After they had decorated his house for Christmas, she had announced that it looked very Christmasy, which Klaus had stated was not a word. She, of course, had argued that it was; it was her word. The argument had ended with the declaration that it was indeed a word, one of many Carolineisms as Klaus had named the language. "So, what have I missed in Boston?"

"Not a lot. More snow, but not enough to cancel the Christmas party a few nights ago," Klaus acknowledged. "Mindy told me to tell you hello and that you had better plan to attend next year."

Caroline rolled her eyes. The day after she left for MysticFalls, the Mikaelsons had hosted their annual Christmas party for all of their employees at Originals. She had been told by Mindy that it was a lavish but relaxed celebration that everyone looked forward to. However, though she was invited, Caroline hadn't been able to attend since she was going to be out of town.

She and Klaus spoke for a few more minutes before ending their conversation. Once she ended the call, Caroline turned to put the phone on the counter when she saw her mother standing nearby. "Hey, Mom. How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long, didn't want to interrupt your phone call," Liz Forbes stated as she studied her daughter. Her face was alight with what she thought could see was joy.

"Yeah, Klaus and the kids just called to wish me a Merry Christmas. And to tell me what they got for Christmas. Apparently they couldn't wait until I get back in a few days," Caroline said with a smile but saw something in her mother's eyes that made it waver a bit. "What?"

"Nothing," Liz replied. "Ready?"

"Yep, just let me grab the food," she answered, not quite believing her mom. Instead of saying anything though, she turned to gather up what they were taking over to the Gilbert's. Since her mom's skills were not known to reach into the kitchen, Caroline had done all of the cooking.

Less than fifteen minutes later, the Forbes pulled up out front of the Gilberts' house. Like everything else in MysticFalls, the house was exactly the way Caroline remembered from her childhood. She was still taking a trip down memory lane when the front door came out and Jeremy came out along with his father Grayson. "Do you guys need any help?"

"Well, I'm certainly not going to turn it down if you're offering," Caroline called back. The Gilbert men helped them into the house, which was full of people. In the living room was Alaric, Elena's uncle by marriage who was obviously waiting for the rest of the men to come back in. Caroline waved to him before heading into the kitchen where Elena's mother Miranda, her Aunt Jenna, Elena, Bonnie and one of Caroline's favorite people in the world, Bonnie's grandmother Sheila, were sitting. She had been the one to raise Bonnie after her mother split and her dad was too busy working. With both sets of her own grandparents dead, she had taken Caroline on as a surrogate granddaughter, as well.

"There's that smile that is brighter than the sun," Sheila greeted her before reaching for a hug. "How have you been Caroline?"

"I'm good, Ms. Sheila," she replied hugging her back.

"Well, I haven't heard from you much lately, just bits and pieces that I get from my Bonnie and the messages you send me."

"Sorry," Caroline said sheepishly. "I've been so busy lately with my new job. I don't think to call until it's late, that's why I've been sending the emails."

"I understand, but they aren't the same as a phone call," Sheila reminded her.

"I'll do better, I promise," Caroline assured her.

The rest of the day was spent celebrating the holiday and catching up with all of the family and friends who were present. Ms. Sheila and Jenna were interested in Caroline's new job, so she talked for a while about them as well as showed them pictures of the kids that she had on her phone. Jenna had, of course, made a few lustful comments when she saw Klaus in a couple of them, but Caroline had just rolled her eyes and kept going.

After a few hours, Caroline and Liz said their goodbyes before heading back to their house. She had noticed that her mom had seemed very quiet, not to mention giving her odd looks all day and she knew that there was something bothering her. She waited until they were in their house before she said anything. "Alright, Mom, you've been acting very detached today, more so than normal."

"You're exaggerating, Caroline. You've just been so busy visiting everyone," Liz replied.

"No, I'm not. Now, I don't want to start a fight on Christmas, but I don't exactly want the silent treatment during the last few days I'm here either," Caroline stated. "You weren't like this earlier, before I got the phone call from Klaus…"

Caroline saw her mother's jaw tense at her words. "So that's it. You have some kind of issue with my job. Is this still about Tyler and how I put my job before my relationship?"

For a few minutes, her mother said nothing. She wasn't sure if she was trying to decide whether to shoot down her argument or simply decide what to say until the other woman finally spoke. "No. I was wrong to tell you that before. If you had given up your job for your boyfriend, you would have had bigger issues down the road if you regretted it."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm worried about you, worried that you are getting too wrapped up in your new job. I mean, there's dedication and then there's over doing it," Liz explained.

"That's rich coming from you," Caroline retorted. "You've been married to your job since before you and Dad divorced. There were nights when I never saw you."

"I'm the Sheriff, I have responsibilities."

"And they came before me, something I learned a long time ago. But that makes you a bit of a hypocrite don't you think?" Caroline asked. "I love my job."

"I know you do, I'm just worried that you are becoming too involved. That conversation I overheard earlier wasn't a boss talking to an employee."

Caroline closed her eyes for a minute as she took her mother's words in. Why did everyone always question her on this stuff? She wished she could get them to understand that things weren't like that. "You're right. We aren't just employee and boss, I consider him a friend. And I'll admit, I am pretty attached to the kids but that isn't a bad thing. They are great kids."

"I don't doubt that they are, sweetie. But you have a weakness for kids so much so that you love them with your whole heart. I just don't want you to get hurt if you lose them like you did the other families you have worked for," Liz clarified. "As for your friendship with your boss, I'm happy that you have found someone who appreciates you for who you are and that you are friends. But just make sure you remember that he is still your boss."

Caroline felt the anger that had been building up towards her mother deflate at her words. She wasn't trying to be critical or judgmental; she was just looking out for her. She might not have always been there when she needed her but she knew her mother wanted what was best for her.

Well what did you think? I wanted to show a little bit of Mystic Falls and Caroline's life. And yes, I put the Christmas carol that played in the background while Klaus killed his hybrids as Caroline's ringtone. I have no shame.

This week has been better for my writing than the previous ones so we might have more frequent updates coming. I set up poll though so that you guys can vote when I will update if it continues to be once a week since I've moved the day of the week around so much.

Next part is Barbados! I'm still working on all of what I'm going to include but here is a taste.

A Mikaelson Family Dinner

A day at the beach (Shirtless Mikaelson men! I have been looking for shirtless pictures so to do my descriptions justice, the things I do for you guys;)

Jealousy ;)

Girl Time

New Year's Eve