Here is the new part guys, I hope you enjoy it.

It seems like it's been forever since I posted but I hope you guys don't feel like that. I am planning to update next week if possible, yesterday was my baby's birthday (Okay, he's not a baby, he's 8) and I am in full Birthday Party mode this weekend so no writing will probably get done. But I have a week so we'll see.

Just to clear the Dean in this story is the hybrid Dean who appeared in Season 4's episode The Killer. He was only on screen for a couple of minutes before Connor killed him. Several people thought I might mean Dean from Supernatural who I love but that isn't who I'm picturing for this. Feel free to if you want to, but it might make things confusing later.

Egolust92-You asked me about a story idea I wrote about on here, I haven't written it yet. This story is taking up all of my time but I hope to write it eventually. We all need more Klaroline ;)

*Disclaimer: The song in this part is not mine*

Part 23

Over the years, many people had asked Caroline how she could do her job, to take care of other people's kids. But Caroline loved her job, she loved being a nanny. To spend time surrounded by children, helping and watching them grow up was supremely satisfying to her; it filled an emptiness inside her.

But there were parts of that she didn't like. Well, one part actually, and that was when the kids got sick. It wasn't just the icky-ness of it that made Caroline dislike it. Sure, she could do without the snot, the little sweaty clammy bodies and she would definitely choose not to deal with any puking, but they weren't the worse things that she dealt with when her charges were sick. No, the worst thing was to see the look of misery on their faces and knowing that she couldn't take the pain away, that the only thing she could do was make them comfortable as she nursed them back to health.

Henry had come down with the flu two days before, with Lexi following him the day after. Neither she nor Klaus had been completely surprised; there had been reports sent home regarding an outbreak of flu cases the first week after school had been back in session, but they had been able to avoid it for a few weeks. But that was not the case anymore.

After a couple of days spent bundled up on the couches in the living room, watching TV in between naps and trips to the bathroom, their fevers had finally broken. Once she talked to Klaus and let him know, they had decided that the twins should be ready to go back to school the next day.

Once it was apparent that the twins were on the mend, Caroline had completely stripped and washed the sheets on their beds as well as made sure that they got their baths to wash away the residual stickiness from their fevers. By the time she was finished, it was bedtime and since Klaus was stuck working late, she had put Lexi to bed then Henry. Henry had begged her to read a few more pages in his book, which she had obliged. He'd been asleep before she finished. As she stood outside the little boy's door, exhaustion hit her like a tidal wave. Despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to go to her room or at least downstairs to the sofas, she peeked her head in to make sure that Lexi was fast asleep like her brother. She wasn't.

"Is Daddy home yet?" Lexi asked hopefully.

"No sweetie, I'm sorry," Caroline replied, as she moved into the room. "Is that why you are still up?"

When Lexi nodded, Caroline went on. "I don't know when he'll be home; he's really busy at work. I can tell him to come in and give you a kiss when he gets home, but you need to get some sleep."

"I'm not tired," Lexi replied, just as she started to yawn.

"Well, maybe not, but you are going back to school tomorrow and you need your rest," Caroline stated, trying not to laugh at Lexi's statement that she wasn't tired. She knew that the little girl was drained but really wanted to see her dad. According to Klaus, he normally tried to stay home with the kids when they were sick or at the very least work from home but some issues at the office had kept him from doing so. Caroline had assured him that she could take care of them and had kept him updated as to their status the entire time. "Sorry you've been stuck with just me."

"That's okay; I like being stuck with you. I just like it better if Daddy is here, too," Lexi replied.

"I liked having my dad around when I was your age and sick too," Caroline admitted.

"Didn't your mom take care of you?" Lexi asked.

Caroline shook her head. "No, my mom was a Sheriff so she worked a lot. My dad would stay home whenever I got sick."

"My friends' moms stay home with them when they are sick," Lexi said. "I don't know if mine ever did that, I don't have any memories of my mom."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Caroline replied, not sure of what else to say but felt hatred towards Tatia bubbling up again. How a woman could give up her children was beyond her. Kids were to be treasured, not discarded like a toy you didn't want to play with anymore.

"What is your mom like?" Lexi asked. "You said she is a Sheriff so does she have a gun and go after bad guys?"

Caroline nodded. "Sometimes. There aren't a lot of bad guys in MysticFalls, nothing bad ever happens there."

"Did she make stuff for you? Or for school stuff like plays? My friend Bree's mom makes costumes for our school play."

"No, my mom doesn't sew. We always bought my costumes when I sang," Caroline replied. She could tell that Lexi had an idolized view of what mothers did, even though she had her aunts as real life models.

"I like it when you sing," Lexi commented, sometimes when she was cooking or doing stuff around the house Caroline would play music and sing along. "Will you sing now?"

"Lexi, you need to be going to sleep."

"Please," the little girl begged. "Sing me a lullaby."

Caroline was a little taken aback at the request. But she didn't think she'd be able to get by with rejecting Lexi's wish, plus it might help get her to sleep. Problem was she didn't know many lullabies. "Okay, but lay back and close your eyes."

Lexi did what she was told and as soon as she was set, Caroline cleared her throat and sung the first song she could think of.

Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine
Little one when you play
Don't you mind what you say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine
If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The right to hold you
From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine

By the last note, Lexi was indeed asleep and Caroline was grateful. She slid off of her spot on the bed and crept out of the room. She eased the door shut and turned around, jumping when she saw Klaus leaning against the wall. She was very thankful that she hadn't screamed. "I didn't realize you were home."

"I haven't been for long," Klaus answered. "I came up to see if the twins were in bed yet and found Henry asleep, so I came to see Lexi."

"You should have come in; she wanted to see you."

"I didn't want to interrupt," Klaus replied. "I didn't know you could sing."

"I don't, not like in band or anything. When I was growing up, I sang in the church choir and later in recitals and stuff. Now I only sing to the radio or in the shower," Caroline explained, mentally kicking herself for mentioning the shower; she should not have said that.

Ever since they returned from vacation and she had had her little epiphany about her feelings towards her boss, she had done what she could to put me some distance between them, trying to not hang around after Klaus returned home in the evenings and making herself scarce on the weekends but it was not easy. Caroline hadn't realized how much time she spent with them until she was trying not to. She still felt herself slipping a lot, falling back into the familiar comfortable pattern she had been in before they went to Barbados. But she had to keep herself focused. She had spoken to Dean a few times on the phone and they had exchanged texts but the packed schedule of the art restoration department at the Originals hindered any possibility of them going out for coffee yet.

"The twins caught me singing one time when I was cleaning and liked it."

"No doubt; you have a beautiful voice," Klaus stated. He had been surprised when he had heard his daughter ask the nanny to sing her to sleep but not as surprised as when he heard the beautiful voice crooning out the lullaby. It was strong and a little smoky, not at all like the teenage pop stars that he had heard coming from Lexi's room. "What was it you were singing? I didn't recognize it."

Caroline couldn't help but blush as she answered. "It's Baby Mine. It's not really a lullaby; it is a song from Dumbo. It just kind of popped into my head."

"It is fitting somewhat, after the talk you were having with Lexi."

"She hasn't talked about her mother before so I wasn't sure what to say to her, I hope that it was okay," Caroline asked.

"You handled it well, probably better than I could," Klaus confessed. He ran his hand over his face in frustration and wariness. "I know that she really both of them feel the absence even if they don't remember her. They see their cousins and their friends with their mothers and yearn for the same thing. Katherine, Sage, and Rebekah try to fill the void but they cannot. And as they get older, that void is going to affect them more and more, especially Lexi."

"Because most teenage girls need their moms," Caroline finished his thought. "My mom and I were not close during that time in my life, but I had other people who were there for me. If it wasn't for my dad and Bonnie's grandmother, I don't know where I'd be. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to have the relationship Elena had with her mom, but I don't feel like I got the short end of the deal either and neither will those kids. They are loved and that's what is important. She will get by without a mother, because she has you."

Klaus starred at her for a minute, taken aback by her statement. Once he regained his ability to speak he nodded towards her. "Thank you. I appreciate your faith in me."

"It's easy to have faith when I see how much you love them," Caroline said with a shrug. "And I'll be here for her and Henry if they need a woman's prospective."

He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Caroline replied as casually as she could despite the fact that her heart had done a little dance at the sight of his smile. "Um, there are some leftovers in the fridge. Just more soup because I didn't think that they could handle anything more. I'm just going to go to my room."

"See you tomorrow, Caroline," Klaus called as he watched her walk away. Their conversation was the most open they had had in weeks, lately it was whether the kids had homework done or something else to do with the house. He had to admit that he missed it. Over the last few weeks, he had noticed her distancing herself a bit. Not from the twins, she seemed the same when she was with them, not she seemed to be distancing herself from him. She would turn down his offer of eating dinner with them more often than not and when she did stay to eat, she was up and gone just as fast as the twins whereas before she would stay and help clean up while they talked.

After giving a sleeping Lexi a kiss on the forehead, he headed downstairs to the kitchen. As he did, his thoughts stayed on Caroline. He really had no idea what had caused the sudden withdrawal, she had been fine on the trip. If anything, their friendship seemed to have deepened on the trip. It had even been her suggestion that the two of them sit together since she was confident that the twins would ask to switch seats again. They had chatted for a while until she had decided to take another nap. She had dreamed, he had heard her murmuring something just before he woke her but he wasn't able to make it out. He had been curious as to what she had been dreaming about because after he woke her, she had seemed a little skittish.

At least until they arrived home and he had seen her talking to Dean before he had left. He wasn't sure why it had bothered him to see the two of them talking alone but had found the fact that they were very curious. He hadn't been able to watch for long before Henry had called him inside but their discussion seemed to have been brief because Caroline had come in shortly after. He momentarily thought that Dean might have asked her for a date. He had Dean and everyone else in his area too busy to have any kind of social life as of late so he had disregarded the notion, which gave him a huge sense of relief.

It had not escaped his attention that he was feeling possessive over Caroline. He had just assumed it was just being protective of a friend. He had known Dean for many years; had discovered and molded the man's career but he did not think he was a good fit for Caroline.

Once his food was heated, Klaus decided to take it up to his studio to eat. With the twins in bed and Caroline in her room, he didn't fancy staying in the empty kitchen. He sat on a stool and stared at the painting in front of him, trying to concentrate on it instead of the blonde.

/

Two days later, Klaus woke as he normally did. His alarm went off and he jumped in the shower before moving down to the kitchen to see his children and Caroline as they all started their day. However when he arrived, he only found Lexi and Henry sitting at the table dressed for school eating cereal. That in itself was unusual since she normally served a hot breakfast and ate with them. He leaned over and kissed both of them on the head as he said good morning. He moved over to the coffee maker to get a cup and was surprised to see there was none made. There was always coffee made, it was one of the first things Caroline did in the morning. "Kids, where is Caroline?"

"Her room," Henry answered through a mouthful of cereal.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth," Klaus scolded as he went about making the coffee.

"Sorry. She woke us up and got us cereal," Henry replied after he swallowed.

"She said she'd be in her room and to come and get her when we were finished," Lexi added.

That didn't sound like Caroline at all and Klaus suddenly felt a bit worried. He started the coffee maker before he started to head out of the kitchen. "Keep eating and then brush your teeth. I'll let Caroline know you're almost ready."

Klaus climbed the stairs quickly and knocked firmly when he reached Caroline's door. "Caroline?"

When he received no response, he knocked and called her name again. And again he received no answer, so he reached down and opened the door. Under normal circumstances, he would not have entered her room like this but he was concerned and when he looked in, he saw that his concerns were well founded. Caroline lay horizontally across her bed as if she had fallen into it, dressed in sweats and her sleep shirt. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and her face was pale. This was not the way that Caroline started her day; she was always up and freshly showered and dressed before she woke up the twins. Something was wrong.

Klaus moved forward and saw that her forehead was damp with sweat. She looked just as the twins had when they were sick. He reached forward, positioned one of his arms under her legs, and moved the other one to under her shoulders. The movement jostled her just enough to wake her. Her eyes opened slightly. "Klaus?"

"Shh…" Klaus shushed as he moved her to lay the right way in her bed and reached for her comforter. "Go back to sleep."

"But the twins…school," Caroline mumbled.

"I'll take the twins to school," Klaus assured her. "Just go back to sleep."

"MMmm…." was all the reply he got from her before she drifted off to sleep.

Klaus settled the comforter around her shoulders, before he reached up and tucked a stray curl behind her ear before he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. As soon as his lips brushed her heated skin, it hit him what he was doing. He was grateful when he saw that she didn't seem to have realized what he had done. He left her then and headed back to his children. But returned a couple of hours later.

"Caroline…sweetheart, you need to wake up," Klaus prodded until she finally opened her eyes. Once she had, he moved his arm under her again to lift her up. "We need to get some medicine and food into you."

"Ug, what's wrong with me. I feel like death," Caroline groaned. Her head felt like it was full of lead, hot, sweaty but also chilled, and she was nauseous. She didn't want to sit up but was too weak to fight against Klaus.

"It seems that the twins have decided to share their sickness with you," Klaus answered.

"Lucky me," Caroline replied as she took the pills and bottle of water he handed her. As she took them, her mind started to clear a bit. She looked at her clock and noticed the time. "What are you doing here? You should be at work."

"I was at work, but I'm needed here," Klaus answered.

"I'll be fine," Caroline assured him. "Just some sleep and some medicine and I can function."

"Functioning isn't getting better. You took care of the twins, now someone needs to take care of you, so let me," Klaus demanded as he picked up the bowl of broth he'd made for her.

"But you might get sick," Caroline replied as she started to drink down the broth.

"If I was going to, I would be in the same state as you are," Klaus just shrugged. "Besides, I don't really get sick. Never have. It comes in handy from time to time."

Caroline finished the broth before setting it aside. It was amazing how something so simple could be so filling when you were sick. She still nibbled on the crackers he offered with the hopes that it would settle her stomach. Klaus picked up before standing up. "I'm going to clean this up and let you sleep some more."

She wanted to argue, but she could already feel herself wanting to drop off. She heard him leaving her room as she slid back down into her bed and sighed heavily at how heavenly it felt.

Klaus returned a few minutes later after cleaning up her food bowls to make sure she had followed his instruction to go back to bed. He saw her curled up again under her covers and fast asleep. He was glad of it, she needed it.

Earlier in the morning after he had realized she was sick, he had quickly gathered the kids and dropped them at school before heading to his office. Once there he met with Mindy and told her that he was needed at home. It was not the most opportune time but he made it work so that he could come home to take care of her.

The next time Caroline woke, she felt better. Nowhere near one hundred percent but better. She opened her eyes as she rolled over and was surprised to see that she wasn't alone. Klaus sat nearby in a chair with his laptop. "Hey, you're here."

Klaus looked up at the sound of her voice. He set the computer to the side before moving to sit beside her on the bed, pressing his hand to her forehead. "Your fever seems to have come down, how are you feeling?"

"Better."

"Do you need anything? I can get it for you."

"Um, just a bathroom break," Caroline informed him, unable to stop herself from blushing a bit.

Klaus nodded as he got up, pulling the covers back from her. "I'll leave you to it. It's time for more medicine and broth."

Caroline waited until he was gone before she got up out of bed. She relieved herself before making her way to the sink. She cringed a bit when she saw herself in the mirror. She was pale with dark circles under eyes, her skin looked greasy from all of the sweating she had done and her hair was half coming out of her ponytail. She quickly fixed her hair to resecure it, before she used a washcloth to wipe down. It wasn't a shower but it would have to do for now because she didn't feel like she had the strength to take one. Once she was done, she went back to her room to find Klaus had also returned with a tray full more broth, water, and pills. "I could have come down to the kitchen to eat."

"You could but you shouldn't. You need to stay in bed."

Caroline rolled her eyes as she moved back over and crawled into her bed. "I hate being bedridden."

"Well, I don't think anyone enjoys it."

"Me more than others though," Caroline stated before going on. "I was in a car accident when I was seventeen, spent several weeks after in the hospital and my bed recovering. I've hated it ever since."

"The scars on your back, that's where they came from?" Klaus asked as he handed her the new bowl of broth and medicine. "I noticed them."

Caroline nodded. "My boyfriend Matt and I had just picked up his druggie sister Vickie. She had been gone for a couple of days on a bender before he had been able to track her down. He wanted to take her home, so she could sleep it off but she started freaking out in the back of the car, kicking and screaming and eventually grabbing onto Matt from behind to get him to pull over. He lost control and we went off the side of the road.

"I don't know how many times we flipped before I was thrown from the car through the windshield. It was an older car, so no safety glass. Just ordinary jagged glass that cut through my abdomen and back like a shredder," she explained. "But they were minor compared to my other injuries."

Klaus nodded as he listened to her. Her last statement did not surprise him, while the damage from the glass looked to be substantial, it wouldn't have caused her to be bedridden for the timeframe she described. "How bad was it?"

"I was in critical condition with substantial internal bleeding. I had to have surgery and even they didn't know if I was going to make it but a few days later, I was stable and on the path to recovery," Caroline said.

"Then I can understand why you hate bed rest." Klaus wasn't sure what else to say. What could he say after hearing her story? He wanted to tell her he was sorry she had to go through that but he didn't know how she would react.

"I'm surprised either one of us will even get close to a car let alone inside one," Caroline stated. It had been a long time since she had thought so much about the accident. It wasn't as painful to think about as it once was but it wasn't something she reflected on a lot. It was in the past and while it had changed her irrevocably, she had done what she could to move on.

She realized then how callous her statement to him had been, dredging up the memory of how his little brother had been killed. "Klaus, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it as a joke or cruelly," Klaus assured her.

"No, I didn't," Caroline replied wearily.

Klaus didn't want to leave yet, not when things seemed to be good between them again but he needed to. He reached over and took the tray away from her, replacing it with her TV remote. "I'm going to clean this up, and get ready to go get the twins. Will you be okay for a little bit while I do that?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Caroline stated.

"Don't get up, and don't try to do something crazy like cleaning or doing laundry."

"I won't."

"I mean it, Caroline," Klaus declared. "You seem to be better, but you are not recovered. We can handle things without you so you can get better."

"Yes, sir," the blonde retorted with a roll of her eyes. He seemed to accept her answer and moved to leave. But when he reached the door, she called out, "Klaus?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you, for taking care of me."

"Any time, sweetheart."

Okay guys, there's the story about Caroline's scars. I modeled the incident after the car accident that happened in the show but replaced Tyler with Vicki and made the accident itself much worse.

I hope you enjoyed this, originally I planned for it to be two separate parts but I think it flows better being together.