A/N Hey readers! This is just a cute little drabble I've had in my head for a while. Please let me know what you think. :)

Teacups and Torture

Klaus Mikaelson hated his life. Really hated it. Pirate on dry land hated it. He thought the 52 years he spent hallucinating during his infection with the Hunter's Curse was the worst pain he'd ever endure until the time he spent in frozen agony in the dungeon of the man he once called his son. This was worse. This was torture beyond anything he had ever inflicted upon an enemy, or family member, or even random strangers in the wrong place at the wrong time. He now longed for the peace that came with suicidal ideations and dark daggers.

"I want to go on the Tea-Cup ride!" four-year-old Lizzie Saltzman shouted, tugging on her mother's hand.

"Dad, no! You said we could go in the haunted house!" six-year-old Hope Mikaelson screamed, pulling her father in the other direction by the hem of his light grey Henley, taking advantage of her supernatural strength to pull ahead of her stepsisters.

"I've had enough of haunted stuff from our real lives. We're supposed to be on vacation!" Josie Saltzman shouted in protest, tugging her mother hard enough by her other hand to change their course yet again. "You said we could go on Splash Mountain, Klaus!" she added angrily, black hair flying around her porcelain face.

Klaus groaned and stared up at the Florida sky. Wishes on stars. Where the hell were the stars in this land of punishing daylight? The hybrid looked over at the love of his life and glared miserably, staring daggers into her sunshine soul. "Don't look at me like that," Caroline Mikaelson sassed, smiling ear to ear at his murderous expression. "You're the one who promised twin four-year-olds they could pick where to go for our honeymoon if they'd siphon the darkness from your siblings in time for the wedding," she reminded her husband. She entwined her fingers in his, sparkling diamond ring clacking against his simple white gold band.

"A decision I deeply regret," the dirty blond man ground out between clenched teeth as his strawberry blonde daughter dragged them closer to her ride of choice.

"Ha!" Caroline laughed, running to keep up with her twins as they bolted for the nearest frozen lemonade kiosk. "That's not how you felt when I brilliantly rescued you from eternal torment," she teased with a flirty batting of her eyelashes, blue eyes sparkling.

Klaus shot her a sideways glance that screamed how unimpressive he found her feat. "Caroline, sweetheart, wife, most beautiful woman to ever walk the face of the earth, love of my life," he said with mock sincerity, feigned condescension clear. "You stole a vial of Damon Salvatore's blood and held it hostage. You swore to give my sweet sister the cure if the Doppelgänger didn't track down Marcel on Tinder so she could get him good and drunk. When he passed out, you simply snuck in through the sewers and stole me away like a thief in the night with the assistance of my boundary blasting daughter."

"Hey, I know talent when I see it," Caroline teased, winking happily at Hope. "And at least I made sure we never have to go back to Virginia," she added coyly.

"You bullied Alaric into giving you joint custody with the promise that neither of us would ever again set foot in Mystic Falls, as if I would want to return to that Godforsaken town," he said with the same bored expression, disgust dripping with the mention of his birthplace.

"We'll take five frozen lemonades please," Caroline squeaked merrily to the young man decked in Disney at the kiosk. He handed them over while his bride pulled out her credit card.

Before she could pay for the necessary nectars, Klaus cut in front of her and locked eyes with the vendor, pupils dilating in the southern December warmth. "There's no charge for us today, mate," he informed the cashier deviously, smirking smugly as his compulsion connected.

Caroline's jaw dropped in disbelief. She smacked the hybrid on the arm, making him laugh as he swatted her manicured hand away. "Klaus!" she whispered under her breath as they walked off with their children. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop compelling the staff!"

Klaus rolled his eyes at her theatrics. "Come now, love, surely you can't deny me my sole happiness for the day," he purred in his silky British lilt.

Hope interrupted their conversation, voice dripping with indignation. She stopped in front of all of them, nearly causing Lizzie to crash into her. "Hope!" the miniature blonde shouted, pushing her new stepsister in the chest.

Hope effortlessly smacked away the younger girl's hand, ignoring her enraged expression. "Not now, Lizzie. I'm standing up for us," she whispered conspiratorially. "Dad, Caroline," she said, her tone deathly determined, tiny hands fisted on her hips. "Hey! Down here!" the littlest Mikaelson called when the two adults shared bemused expressions, little hand waving the crisp winter air. "We were promised five-day park hopper passes! No take backs!" she shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at her father.

"Yeah! Mommy, you promised!" Josie chirped when they arrived at the haunted house.

"Yes, we did. And five days you shall have," Caroline promised with a mock curtsy, her Princess Jasmine sleeves falling further down her shoulders. She couldn't help but laugh at the sheer misery on her lover's face, an airy giggle floating in the humidity saturating the southern air.

Klaus' dramatic eye roll quickly morphed into an evil grin when Caroline groaned at the length of the line. He gave her his most angelic smile and whispered, "Compulsion doesn't seem so bad now, does it, love?" Before Caroline could answer, Hope was tugging both twins by the hands towards the front of the express line. Smiling wide when his hybrid ears picked up on his little tribrid's command to the employee with freshly dilated pupils to let them on first, he added, "Apparently someone agrees with me."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, feigning annoyance. "Like father, like daughter."

Klaus smiled proudly as they all boarded the ride. He squeezed Hope's little hand as she beamed up at him. "Well done, princess," the immortal complimented.

Caroline smacked him again. "Don't encourage her!" The sound of Klaus' laughter was quickly drowned out by the sounds of the children's excited chatter. Caroline shot him a sideways glance and rolled her eyes in amusement. Vampirism did have it's benefits. Seeing her smile, Klaus wrapped an arm around her bare shoulders and kissed her cheek, the chiffon overlay of her costume glowing in the blacklight.

Josie was the next to get her way, the three children screaming at the top of their lungs when they plummeted down the waterfall on Splash Mountain, Caroline's smile flying off her face. She laughed so hard at the end when she saw their picture from the plunge that Klaus became genuinely concerned, patting her on the back of her blue top. "No, no, no, I'm ok babe, I'm ok," she assured him brightly, wiping tears from her eyes and she paid for the photo. All three children hand their arms up and brilliant elation on their young faces in the front row. Behind them was Caroline's dazzling smile as she illuminated the glossy page with genuine joy. Beside her, Klaus had a murderous glare firmly in place, arms crossed over his chest, completely surrounded by Disney Princesses on their magically manipulated private raft.

"Ohmigod, Care, you have to put that on your Instagram right now!" Hope exclaimed, twirling around in her fluffy powder blue Cinderella dress that was now thoroughly soaked.

"I still have no idea what that means," Klaus said, scratching his head with a bewildered expression.

Lizzie rolled her azure eyes at her stepfather's technological ignorance. "God Klaus! How long were you in that place that you don't know Instagram?" she asked sarcastically.

Josie glared at her twin as she defended their stepfather's honor. "Shut up, Lizzie! He was in there to save his brothers and sisters," she scolded, ever his champion.

Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest, pouting petulantly in her rosy Aurora gown, also soaked by the mountain. "I bet you wouldn't do that for us," she said, gesturing at Hope with her head, blonde braided pigtails swinging in the sun.

Hope wrapped one arm around each of her stepsisters as they approached their giant pink teacup. "Of course she would. We're a family, right, dad?" she asked happily as they all climbed in and closed the plastic door behind them. "And family is always and forever," she added with a serious head nod at the black-haired princess in her Snow White costume. Josie returned Hope's nod with a determined expression at their tiny sister.

"Yeah, always and forever, right babe?" Caroline added, laughing hysterically at his homicidal glare. Deep down she knew he was having the time of his life. "What could be better than spending five days at Disney with your wife and our three young children?"

Caroline had to strain to hear his answer over the melodious cacophony of high-pitched screams as the teacups spun around and around. "An eternity of torture," he snarked, huffing in annoyance when the women surrounding him kept crashing into his immortal body. Caroline rolled her eyes, sunny smile shining. She kissed him lightly on the lips, falling into his muscular chest when the ride tossed her on top of him.

When Caroline untangled her limbs from his, she saw his dimples blossoming against his will on his ruggedly handsome face. Behind his ever-present stubble, the young vampire knew he was hiding a wide-open grin. "I love you," she teased happily, making him roll his eyes at her blatant attempt to drag a real smile out of him.

Conceding defeat, Klaus leaned in and kissed her cherry lips, her sapphire eyes falling shut for a brief moment as a happy hum vibrated from her chest to his slightly open mouth, tongues barely touching. Hope grunted in disgust at their public display of affection. When he pulled back, the Original Hybrid gave up the façade and laughed along with the four girls who owned his undead heart. Meeting Caroline's eyes as the world spun all around them, he whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "I love you, too." And he did, and would, always and forever.