Chapter 34
"You're pregnant."
Caroline felt his grip around her wrist tighten. The young woman watched as Niklaus's eyes glazed over, knowing that his entire focus would be on the heartbeat. She was making sure to stay entirely still, unconsciously knowing what she was doing. Past experiences with the Mikaelson's have indicated that the originals were very much predators more than any other.
All vampires had the hunting instinct, but not a single vampire could hold a candle to a Mikaelson. Taking a deep breath, Caroline watched as life slowly returned to his eyes. The blonde had little time to react when he pulled her closer, placing his forehead to hers.
"You're not going to ask if it's yours?" She joked, enjoying the low growl that emitted from the man.
"You are not dumb enough to sleep with another man," Niklaus growled, pressing his forehead into hers with a little more pressure.
Caroline used the distraction to pull her wrists from his loosening grasp to wrap them around his neck. "I don't see any broken furniture," she noted.
Niklaus let out a breath, "I can't say there is not a part of me that wishes to destroy all of this furniture. I won't, however, when you are close enough to be endangered."
Caroline laughed as he lowered his mouth to hers, bringing her into a searing kiss. "Are you happy?"
Niklaus kissed her cheek, "I was happy already."
"Are you happy about the baby?"
Niklaus sighed, "I have a lot of enemies, love. The man I called father was one of them. I know you have this entire other world in that beautiful head of yours, but I'm not that man."
"I know you chose to listen to me much earlier. Nik, you become a wonderful father no matter which reality we are in. That is one fact I can never doubt," Caroline murmured into his chest.
"A wonderful father who spent the equivalent of maybe a handful of years actually in the child's presence?"
Caroline lifted her head off his chest and placed a hand on either side of his face. "Klaus Mikaelson. Are you admitting to being afraid?"
His eyes flashed golden, "Klaus Mikaelson is never afraid."
Her smile was blinding, "You are going to be the fiercest father around. Our child will never not know your or your family's love. I will make sure of it."
XX
"You've never told them," Ayana murmured disapprovingly, coming from behind the blonde witch she knew during her lifetime.
Curiosity about death and what lay beyond it was not a phenomenon that only humans dealt with; their supernatural brethren for over two thousand years faced the reality that they would spend eternity alone once they met their final death. Qetsiyah had been overconfident in the weak will of Silas. And she had been alone on the other side ever since. Yet magic always provides loopholes if you look close enough.
The most obvious example being witches. Witches have, for generations, been able to commune with their dead. It was the nature of all witches, even those who serve nature as opposed to those whose magic derives from their ancestors, to look towards their dead for guidance. What so few living witches understood was that the very item that meant to keep the supernatural's apart, aside from Qetsiyah and Silas, allowed the witches to assemble thanks to how their magic worked.
"You'll have to be more specific, Ayana. I'm afraid I've kept many secrets from my children," Esther sighed, having just returned from her conversation with the witches' descendent.
Growing up, Esther was from a small village town, within what modern historians would name Norway. As her children grew, they learned of their father's culture, of the mighty Vikings. A culture much more open than many in the day. It was part of why she fell in love with Mikael in the first place. Her entire village had been attacked, but only Dahlia and herself survived. The man she married had known of her witches' blood, had not feared it.
Yet that didn't necessarily mean he liked it.
They had been young then; Esther had never been a magical prodigy; that had always been Dahlia. A trait Esther was sure had been passed to her own son, Kol. Esther had been so sure Mikael could be the provider needed that her magic, while a reassuring safety measure, did not need to be nurtured highly or practiced beyond keeping it compliant.
"In this case, the deal you made with Dahlia. Despite my warnings," Ayana shot the blonde woman a look, one that only the oldest of friends could. Sometimes it hurt Esther to think just how many secrets Ayana had kept over the years for her. Ayana must be the sole soul who knew her story better than the witch herself.
Esther shot the witch a dark look, "I never thought it would be necessary after you gave me your ancestor's immortality spell."
The original witch looked down at the land of the living, a worried frown on her face not bothering to turn back towards the Bennett witch of her lifetime. When becoming a mother had turned out to be more difficult than she thought, Esther, fearing she would lose Mikael to someone he thought could provide children the witch went to the one person who had never turned her down.
Dahlia.
"It was a mistake; I should never have agreed to her price," Esther shook her head. Dahlia's magic had done more than help her conceive. Esther's own fertility practically guaranteed they would have a new mouth to feed after every winter.
Ayana shook her head, "As dark as your sister's magic is, it was your secrets that ruined your family. Long before you came to me for a way to ensure their survival."
"Mikael would never have forgiven me. For turning to magic to secure his children, for the price, I agreed to pay," Esther shook her head. "Sometimes, I wonder if my mother had properly trained me…"
Ayana laughed softly, placing a hand on Esther's shoulder, "you would have still craved children enough to risk Mikael's anger. But his anger would have been well earned for agreeing to give Freya away."
"I tried to save her," Esther whispered.
"Esther," Ayana sighed.
"Mikael couldn't handle the fact that he left with two healthy children and a third on the way. Only to come home to find his eldest gone. I don't think he truly forgave me, perhaps wished I had used my magic to save her."
Ayana scoffed" then he would have been angry because you used magic. Mikael was never a good man, Esther. You should have come clean over a thousand years ago, but there would have been nothing you could have done to please him. You know your fertility issues would not have cost you your husband."
"Just be left with a question if I refused to use magic to help or if my magic was the cause," Esther chuckled to herself darkly. "Freya's loss pulled us apart."
"Then you were brought together again by Niklaus' birth, I always wondered. Was the timing between Ansel and Mikael truly so close?" Ayana nudged her meaningfully.
"Mikael and I were practically estranged; I performed my wifely duties when he was home, but it was not nearly as frequent as my visits to Ansel, but short enough that he still came back in time he may have thought he fathered Niklaus," Esther answered factually.
"But not you," Ayana murmured.
"No, not I."
"Then you spent years trying to keep your fourth child weak. Afraid of what your husband would do knowing of your betrayal, and now it's that very child's blood that allows your line to continue," Ayana continued looking down, seeing the blonde newly transformed human inform the hybrid of his impending fatherhood.
"Forcing my first secret to come out at last," Esther mused to Ayana, "magic certainly has to make its point doesn't?"
"All of this because you never told Mikael of your deal with Dahlia, why you were so eager to overlook the dark realities of the immortality spell."
"Mikael was and will always be the love of my life. He would have understood the comfort I took from another; what he would have never approved of was that I birthed another's child" Esther closed her eyes momentarily, taking her eyes away from Ansel's son.
Her son.
"You allowed your son to be bullied by your husband. Esther, you may be a powerful witch, but even you can suffer from pride. Your pride was wounded, knowing you faltered not only in staying with Mikael but for failing to leave him. In fear of what Mikael would do to you for your betrayal and even perhaps knowing he could never hold your power always knowing he would be a wolf."
"I was never ashamed that Niklaus was half-wolf," Esther denied.
"Yet you never told Mikael of the deal you made, nor that it was the deal that took your precious Freya away. That deceit made way for Niklaus's birth, but it was your decision. A hybrid would have been born one way or another. It was your actions that allowed nature to choose you," Ayana snapped at her. "Your decisions that affect all your children and now your grandchild."
"You wish me to make contact with your descendent again? I recall how angry you were that I gave so much away," Esther smirked at the way Ayana rolled her eyes.
"You must warn your children about your sister," Ayana spoke darkly, "I won't have my descendent trapped in a war of your blood."
"Bonnie will never allow Caroline to fight by herself" A second figure appeared beside Ayana rolling her eyes, but the warmth in her tone spoke of genuine fondness.
"Sheila," Ayana hugged her descendant as the two dark-skinned witches turned toward their counterpart. Seeing the witch's face twist in thought, "Trying to kill the babe before it's born will not work, let alone save your children from Dahlia."
"I know, but it doesn't mean the thought doesn't cross my mind," Esther snapped, "I've been working for a thousand years to save my children from themselves. The very thing that could save them could also get them killed."
XX
Katherine was sitting on top of the bar, watching as the pretty boy Matt Donovan pretended that the last couple of hours did not happen. Truthfully Katherine would love to be able to do exactly what the blonde was doing.
Instead, she was looking into the eyes of her daughter. Her very angry, very much alive daughter whom Katherine had last seen as a newborn before her father demanded that the child be handed over to the family he found to adopt her.
They named her Nadia.
She could feel Matt's concerned gaze whenever he allowed his eyes off the countertop. The woman before her was beautiful; Katherine could see that Nadia took after her father for the most part, but her curls were all Katherine.
She took up with the Traveler's meaning Nadia had discovered her gift for magic, but it also was a cause for concern for the vampire. Travelers never went anywhere alone; their strength lay in numbers rather than physical ability.
"Nadia, why are the Traveler's in Mystic Falls?"
The brunette looked up with a smirk on her face, "Don't you want to know why I am here?"
Katherine rolled her eyes, "the fact you called me mother clearly tells me you've spent the past 500 years searching for me. I'm afraid you're going to be vastly disappointed in my motherly instincts, darling. What I do know is that you took up with travelers despite becoming a vampire, meaning you were willing to do a lot of their dirty work when their magic would fail. Most likely, in exchange for help in locating me, which brings me back to my question. Why are the travelers here?"
"Silas, of course. Did you think the supernatural world wouldn't notice how active he has been?"
"That was months ago. Silas has been dealt with," Katherine snapped. "Lost to the sea, it would take ages for the travelers to find him. The cure is also no longer in Mystic Falls."
Nadia shrugged, "they will be so disappointed."
"Followers of Silas are dangerous, Nadia. They won't let you go until you fulfill your part of the bargain. Which I know you can't because Silas is gone."
Nadia hummed, "But is he dead?"
XX
Bonnie was walking out of the abandoned house when her phone began to ring; picking it up, she answered hesitantly, "Care?"
"Bonnie!" She could hear the relief in Caroline's voice, "I hate to ask, but how quickly do you think you could arrange to be in New Orleans?"
Bonnie replied hesitantly despite knowing what this might be about, "All my classes are online this semester. I was given a witchy warning that I might need to be free to travel, and I've let magic dictate my decisions for so long. I figured if I had to leave, I might as well plan as if I would need the freedom to travel. So only as long as it takes me to pack. Why, what's going on?"
"I just found out some news. I should have seen it coming, but I thought it was a magic wolf loophole meant for wolves, not just because Klaus was one" Caroline was babbling again.
"Care, are you pregnant?"
There was a pause. Bonnie internally groaned; she could only imagine what the Mikaelson's will be like with this news. The memories Caroline shared of her time in New Orleans dealing with their drama. Wait, wasn't there an older sister?
"Care, as happy as I am knowing how much you always wanted a family. Wasn't there a giant fight because of Klaus and Hayley's baby? Just what will I be walking into based on your previous timeline, I mean."
Caroline let out a breath; Bonnie could hear her whispering to Rebekah that no, she did not need water. She would finish her phone call; then, they could make their way home to a dragon breathing Niklaus. Bonnie chuckled at that.
"A dragon, Care?"
"The whole bad wolf pun is getting old. So yes, a dragon! I mean, they horde treasures like one."
"Care," Bonnie laughed, bringing her friend back to the conversation at hand.
"Right, sorry, Bon! As I was saying, Niklaus once told me that Esther had an older sister, to whom she held a debt. The debt was the firstborn of the Mikaelson family… it's partly why I need you here, Bonnie. Their older sister, Freya. We might not find her in time to help. I can't risk losing my child, Bon. I have no reason to believe things will work out the same."
"I'll be there; Care. We will figure this out. Didn't Niklaus tell you more?"
Caroline laughed, "we both tried to leave each other out of the other's drama… just filled each other in on major developments. I only really spent time with him helping to save Hope. There was not that much time to dive into fifteen years of missed escapades."
"Right. Care, there is something I've got to tell you. When I tried to reach my ancestors, I got Esther instead, and she knows about your pregnancy."
The Bennett witch could hear the hiss that was Rebekah, who had clearly been listening. So much for some expectation of privacy. On the other hand, Bonnie noted that with a family like the Mikaelson's, perhaps Rebekah truly does not understand real privacy.
It would make perfect sense, knowing that Klaus was her brother.
"What did she say?" Caroline asked delicately, deep in her mind knowing that the Klaus of her past mentioned all the dangers since Hope was born. The blonde bit her lip in frustration; there had been so many threats to Hope since the girl's birth, the most destructive being the fucking Hollow. Not to mention her own twins' glory days of being used as magical tools for ancient beings such as the Siren. But now she wished she had paid more attention to the stories Klaus had told her.
All she knew was that an older witch, her child's blood, would come for her child. The only difference is Caroline has no idea if they could find Freya in time to actually help them.
"Nothing helpful concerning the baby, just that your assumption of it being a wolf loophole was wrong. Klaus is the natural loophole, with his mother being a witch, his biological father a werewolf, a witch under a specific multi-generational curse, then add in the power of being one of the first vampires. That is a lot of magic being pushed into one body."
"His curse was the only thing keeping children at bay because the curse used doppelganger blood to bind all the magic together," Bonnie could hear Rebekah mutter from Caroline's side.
"All that tells me is that Niklaus is capable of banging out multiple children," Caroline complained, "Bonnie, I remember childbirth; I can't say I'm looking forward to multiple births, especially of supernatural children!"
"Care, it tells me that I can use Klaus to bypass the cure giving you back your immortality. That is if you want it back," Bonnie added, knowing as bitchy as Caroline that the blonde always wanted to be a mother. The question would be if she wanted more children.
Caroline's mind went straight to what Stefan had told her, of Hayley's experience giving birth to the tribrid. The wolf only survived the witches' attack because mother and child shared blood during pregnancy.
"Bonnie, did Esther say when the spell could safely be done?"
"No. I assume the safest option would be after birth. We have no idea what an immortality spell would do to an already supernatural baby."
XXX
Bonnie hung up the phone after promising to do more research and perhaps looking towards more witch communities to see the effects of magic during pregnancy. The witch grabbed her car keys, mentally making a note to check in on Matt. He had been far more distant than usual. If Caroline knew she was stopping into their childhood home and not check in on their friend.
Oh, Bonnie shivered, thinking of the wrath that would follow.
The witch did not know what she expected when walking into the Mystic Grill. Perhaps she should have given it more thought. For whatever it was, she was expecting, the scenario that greeted her was far from what the witch could have imagined.
The great Katherine Pierce was once again within the town lines and talking with an unknown woman. Bonnie would have sworn she could be related if she was looking closely based on the long dark locks and curls. Her gaze swept past the arguing women towards the familiar blonde hair by the bar.
"Matt Donovan, what would Caroline say if she were to see you now?"
Matt's blue-eyed widened as his thin mouth turned into a bright smile seeing the teasing smile of one of his childhood friends.
"I would be getting an earful about how I should be enjoying more of my youth. Before she would walk off with a bounce in her step to argue with my boss," Matt answered more in fondness at the thought of his well-meaning but often out of line ex-girlfriend.
"It's a good thing, then it's just me," Bonnie laughed as she slid into an empty seat at the bar. "Care to explain why Katherine freaking Pierce is here?"
"She walked into a supernatural problem of mine. Don't worry; she was helpful" Matt hurried to reassure the Bennett witch when he saw her familiar concerned gaze starring back at him.
"What's going on?" Bonnie whispered, looking over to see that the bar was still indeed practically empty.
"Matty here was having blackouts and not the fun kind," Katherine interrupted casually, glancing over to the brunette who had stormed out of the bar.
"Who's your friend?" Bonnie asked inquisitively.
"Definitely not a friend," Katherine frowned, "yet that is not your problem. However, the pack of coyotes she brought with her will be."
"Coyotes?" Bonnie repeated, "I need more of an explanation, please."
"Nadia is a vampire, who's running with a group of witches known as Traveler's," Katherine informed, "long story short, these are witches whose magic has been severely limited individually. As a group, however, they are formidable."
"Okay. There is always a way to defeat a witch," Bonnie shrugged.
Katherine shot her a dirty look. "Your grams really did a shitty job in teaching you. Travelers are dangerous little Bennett. Not only do they still have the power to destroy you despite not being able to tap into nature as you do. They follow Silas; you do remember him don't you?"
"Silas is trapped inside a specially crafted safe in the middle of the ocean," Bonnie hissed, "he won't even be in the same spot that we left him!"
Katherine leaned back, raising a brow, "as I said. Dangerous, especially when the only things they want, you cannot give them. Their goals were the reason my father left them in the first place."
Bonnie blinked," you were a traveler?"
Katherine laughed bitterly, "My father was. You forget I was born when women were not looked upon in a good light in society. Despite having the talent, I couldn't practice, especially when my father left the group. We needed to fit in with the rest."
"Does that mean Elena?"
Katherine shook her head, "the gene most likely was deleted a long time ago. Potentially could be enacted, but most likely, her gene pool's been diluted enough she will never have access. She is also a doppelganger like myself. Who knows if we can even practice our magic might be strictly related to our blood."
Bonnie sighed, "this can't be happening… Caroline's asked me to come to New Orleans. Katherine, she's pregnant."
If Katherine was surprised at this news, the brunette did not show it. Matt blinked a few times as he digested the information, "Caroline's pregnant? I thought when she turned…"
"The cure completely reversed the effects of vampirism. Add in Klaus's wolf blood" Bonnie made a disgusted face, "Voila miracle baby."
"Wow," Matt muttered, "I'm having a hard time imagining Caroline as a mom. If she's asking you to come, something major must have happened."
Bonnie's face turned grim, "I think it's more about preparing the worst."
"So, we have a Mikaelson baby to prepare for and to deal with a group of misfit witches. Fantastic," Katherine rolled her eyes.
XX
By the time Kol, under Elijah's supervision, picked up Finn and Sage from the airport and returned to the plantation, the entire living room was trashed. Nothing had been spared in their brother's rage. The couches had claw marks, the table was broken, and they heard the sound of wood breaking in the other room. Their youngest sibling whistled low as they crossed over the threshold. Elijah stepped over a piece of glass, glancing around the room. "Niklaus?"
"Perhaps our brother has a future on the silver screen?" Finn mused to himself as his girlfriend snorted, stepping over window glass.
The group turned towards the hallway as footsteps clacked towards them. His younger brother walked into the room, his mouth dripping in blood "all of my brothers reunited once more! How lovely for you to join the party."
Sage glanced up the stairs eyeing the disheveled hybrid with suspicion, "Where is Caroline?"
"Asleep," Niklaus waved his hand, "she and Rebekah will be starting classes soon. I told her to get some sleep."
Kol looked over at the couch where a dead body lay, "allowing you to have some fun. Well done, brother. While I admire the style, does this mean trouble in paradise?"
Niklaus growled, "don't talk about her like that."
Sage rolled her eyes, "well, I'll let the family deal with this mess. I will go make sure she actually is asleep and not plotting an intervention."
Kol turned towards his brother, "now I was following your orders getting what remains of our family back into this magical city. Now, what is it?"
Niklaus grunted softly, turning towards the kitchen, not turning back, knowing that his siblings would indeed follow. They were barely standing there a minute before Sage flashed down into the kitchen.
"What the hell, Klaus?" Sage hissed.
"So, I take it you heard?" Niklaus answered vaguely, causing much confusion in both his eldest and youngest brother's.
"Sage?" Finn questioned.
"You want to enlighten them, Klaus? I sure as hell would love to know what the hell is going on," Sage snapped.
"Now this I have to hear," Kol snickered, taking a glass of brandy from his brother as each sibling took a glass one by one.
"Dearest Siblings, what you have missed is that dear Caroline is, in fact, pregnant," Niklaus informed, taking his glass and drowning it.
The two un-informed siblings blinked, "Nik, what are you on about? That blonde's crazy about you she'd never cheat—" Kol suddenly stopped. "Her other life…. You had a child then too."
Niklaus nodded, "not a wolf fluke. In fact, a true genuine loophole as the first of my kind."
Sage shook her head in confusion, "so the heartbeats?"
"Are our children. Not that she knows she is carrying multiple Mikaelsons" Niklaus drowned another glass, "don't look at me like that, Elijah. It's not every day you find out you are going to be a father."
"Oh, stop pouting," Rebekah stepped towards her brother and knocked the glass out of his hand. Kol and Elijah firmly at her heels. "This is a good thing, Nik."
"She's human, Rebekah," Niklaus roared, low enough not to wake the sleeping human upstairs, but those in the kitchen could detect the thunder in his voice. "She's human and is pregnant with not one supernatural child but multiple."
"How many?" Finn asked hesitantly. He has had the least amount of time with the blonde, but he knew enough about human childbirth to know that women carrying more than one had a much more difficult time. At least that was true in their time; he assumed it would be better now. But Fin was of the opinion certain dangers could never be escaped.
"I only heard one heartbeat aside from hers," Rebekah frowned.
"Then you weren't listening close enough, sister dear," Niklaus mocked, "Caroline is indeed pregnant with quadruplets."
Kol burst out laughing, as the other's blinked slowly as the words sunk in. "Is that even possible naturally?"
"For a human?" No," Sage shook her head, "happens when humans receive medical help. But Caroline and Klaus have a supernatural version of IVF. My, the fates really have it out for you."
"You think?" Niklaus snarled.
Elijah cleared his throat, "this changes nothing. Those children are our blood. We made a vow Always and Forever."
"Even if it means carrying these children could kill her before she even delivers?" Niklaus's eyes flashed.