Once again, I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner, here's finally the next chapter.

Be still, my son
You're home
Oh when did you become so cold?

Nightwish – Mother and Father

Chapter 58

Parenting

Kol squished his glass so hard that it almost shattered, he couldn't concentrate on anything. Surely Elijah would be mad at him for telling Eva about Rebekah, but Kol thought that she deserved to know. She would have deserved to know years ago. Elijah hadn't been the same after that and his need to protect Eva from everything had grown even stronger. It hadn't been just fatherly love, more like an obsession. Losing Rebekah had caused that, Elijah had wanted to shield Eva from all the bad things in the world. Kol had tried to point out that Eva wasn't a child, but Elijah hadn't wanted to listen, to him she was his little girl again and she needed his protection.

Unfortunately Kol hadn't been in Chicago when the whole thing had happened, but he had met Eva and Elijah soon after they had left town. According to Elijah Nik had acted very possessively towards Eva ever since Elijah had joined them, Nik had been more than reluctant to share her. At first Elijah had let his behavior slide; Nik had been grieving the loss of Marcellus and the home they had built in New Orleans. Clearly Eva's presence had helped him, but finally Elijah has had enough, he had wanted to spent time with his daughter without the constant fighting with Nik.

They had argued that night before Nik and Rebekah had gone to the speakeasy where Mikael had showed up. Rebekah had told Elijah about her desire to leave with her new boyfriend; she had got tired of Nik's dominant behavior. She had wanted to take Eva with them, she had been sure that Eva would agree. Things had got ugly when she had told Nik that she wanted to leave. When Elijah had confronted Nik, he had calmly announced what he had done to Rebekah and Finn and what he would do to Elijah if he would try to take Eva.

Apparently Nik was under the impression that she was his property. They had fought and things could have got even uglier if Elijah wouldn't have managed to control himself enough to fled, he had needed to get to Eva before Nik. It hadn't been difficult to tell how terrible guilt Elijah had felt for not being able to safe their sister, he hadn't been the same person anymore. His hatred towards Nik and his need for retaliation had grown along the years and Kol certainly didn't blame him, Nik deserved to pay for what he had done.

Kol had stayed with Elijah and Eva until the unfortunate little incident almost two decades ago, but he had no idea what would happen now. Could Eva forgive Elijah for killing Nik? Could she forgive Kol for keeping her here against her will? Suddenly he realized that she had been in the shower for a while now, he could hear the water running. She had said that she wanted to be alone, but he needed to make sure that she was alright.

"Eva?" he called and knocked the bathroom door.

He didn't get any reply, so he knocked again.

"Eva?"

Oh no… He yanked the door open, breaking the lock. She wasn't in the bathroom. Damn it. The window was very small, even for her, and they were on the 15th floor, but he should have known that wouldn't stop her.

"Damn it, Eva…"

Damon was sitting on the armchair and staring at his empty bottle, like that would miraculously make it full again. He had no idea how much he had drank, he had lost count. Did this help, no, but he didn't really care. How had everything gone so wrong? Elena had survived for Klaus' ritual, but Stefan was gone, he had sacrificed himself for Damon. He and Klaus could be anywhere by now and Damon had no idea where he could even start to look for them. Damn Stefan, why had he done that? Why had his little brother sacrificed everything for him after all the things Damon had done.

He needed to pull himself together, but he could do that tomorrow, right now he wanted to concentrate on drowning his self-loathing. Hopefully Elena wouldn't come here tonight; Damon could barely look at her without thinking how he had betrayed his brother and how he kept betraying him by wanting his girlfriend. Elena had lost her father, but Damon couldn't be the one to comfort her, she had Jenna and Jeremy and all her friends, surely they would be there for her. Damon didn't know what Elena's feelings concerning John Gilbert were, but despite of all his faults, the man had given his life for his daughter. Drink… He needed more alcohol. Where were all the bottles…?

"Hello, Damon," a girl's voice said.

"Oh great," he snorted, he didn't even bother to turn his head. "The leprechaun is here. I need to change the damn locks…"

The mini vampire marched determinedly in front of his armchair and looked at him. She wasn't wearing children's clothes anymore; she was wearing a short black and white dress and a pair of black boots.

"I need you to tell me what happened here," she said.

"Get lost, shorty," he snorted. "Unless you're planning to give me my pot of gold."

"Hilarious," she huffed. "Excuse me for not laughing. I ask again, what happened here? Where are my father and Klaus?"

He let out a humorless chuckle.

"Your "noble, always keeping my word" daddy got what he deserved; a dagger in his heart. I don't know or care what Klaus did to his body."

The little vampire stared at him intently.

"Klaus is alive?"

"Yes, unfortunately. He left town after his nice little ritual."

"What ritual? Do you mean that he broke his curse?"

"What am I, a freaking press agency? Could you get lost now, I'm busy."

"I can see that," she huffed. "What's the matter?"

"That's none of your business. Now be a good little dwarf and go back to the Middle Earth or where ever the hell you came from."

He didn't pay enough attention to see the hurt on her face. He was too drunk to care even if he would have noticed; he wanted to take his own misery out on someone. He hadn't asked her to come here and she was too stupid to leave him alone.

"You think it's funny to mock my size? I'm much older than you."

"Whatever, I don't care, Frodo. And by the way, you look ridiculous in those clothes, those are meant for women."

"That's it," she snapped. "I've tolerated this long enough."

He rolled his eyes and huffed carelessly.

"Don't let the door hit you on your way out…"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence when she suddenly grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet.

"What do you think you're…"

"Silence," she snapped and sat down on the armchair. Her grip was viselike; she twisted his arm back and forced him to lie over her feet. He didn't have time to react in any way when he suddenly felt the first smack. Had she just… What a… The mini vampire was actually spanking him.

"What the hell!" he shouted furiously and tried to get up, but she was stronger than him.

"I don't enjoy this, but you asked for this," she stated firmly and continued spanking him.

For a moment he was too shocked to move, was this actually happening? Finally she was finished; she shoved him off her lap and stood up.

"I might look ridiculous, but I'm still a much older vampire and as such I deserve some respect," she stated. "Especially from you."

If he would have been a human, his face would have been red with anger and humiliation, although he was still too shocked to comprehend the whole thing.

"What…"

"You don't remember me, but we met after you had just become a vampire," she said, "I took you in and taught you how to be a vampire; you were like my own child."

He looked up and stared at her disbelievingly.

"What the hell are you talking about? I think I would remember if I would have met you…"

"You were compelled to forget," she cut in. "But that's not important right now and I don't really care if you believe me or not. What I want from you is information and I'm not leaving before you tell me everything I want to know."

California, 1 week later

Klaus looked around in a big living room, the place seemed very cozy. Clearly Eva had decorated it. Like any proud father, Elijah had plenty of framed pictures of her hanging on the wall. Slowly Klaus moved in front of the pictures and observed them. Eva in front of their house, Eva on the beach, Eva wearing a beautiful gown, Eva sending a flying kiss towards the camera… There was only one picture where Elijah was with Eva, he was holding her in his arms and she had wrapped her arms around his neck.

They were both smiling, but Elijah's smile didn't reach his eyes. Klaus couldn't help but to feel guilty, things had definitely gone too far. At least he had reunited Elijah with Rebekah and Finn like he had promised. Yes, he was a man of his word. Unfortunately he hadn't managed to find Eva yet, according to the housekeeper she had left in a hurry and she hadn't said where she was going. Perhaps he would find some lead from her room. For a moment he considered asking Stefan to come inside and help him, but he decided against it.

"Show me her room," Klaus ordered the housekeeper and took one of the pictures with him.

"Yes, sir," the woman replied. "It's this way."

Klaus picked up Eva's scent as soon as he opened the door to her room. It was very womanly with floral print armchair and ottoman, dark pink walls, a colorful chandelier, a queen size bed, a creamy dresser and plenty of small feminine details. He ran his fingers over the edge of her bed and noticed the book on the bedside table. Sinful Desires. On the cover there was a shirtless man who was touching the cheek of a shy looking woman. Klaus smiled and picked the book up; it seemed that Eva hadn't finished it yet.

He opened her closet and noticed that she wore very different kind of clothes these days, womanly clothes. He felt a sting when he thought about her struggle, being a woman in a child's body. He had finally gotten what he had wanted for so long and now he wanted nothing more than give Eva the same. There had to be a way to do that. Maybe he hadn't found it yet, but he wasn't going to give up before he would.