"Come on, Sophia, time to get up," Klaus gently urged.
"Five more minutes," the young girl whined, covering herself with the blankets.
"No, love. It's time for school," Klaus told her, trying to rouse her.
"But..."
"But nothing, young lady. It's time to get ready for the last day you're going on winter break," Klaus said as Sophia attempted to rise from her bed but flopped back down. The previous night, he had understood why Caroline wished him good luck.
Sophia had been so hyped up on sugar that she refused to go to bed. Klaus had practically resorted to bribery just to get her to put on her pajamas. The upside was that with all the sugar, the young girl had crashed around 11 pm, three hours past her bedtime.
Letting out a sigh, Klaus pulled the covers back over Sophia. "One day off won't hurt," he mumbled to himself as he stood up and left the room. He knew he'd probably have to bribe her later to keep her from mentioning this to her parents.
As Klaus closed the door to Sophia's room, he could hear noises coming from downstairs. Making his way into the kitchen, he found his sister, Rebekah.
"What are you doing here at 7 in the morning?" Klaus asked her, perplexed.
"Just checking in," Rebekah replied as she placed her handbag on the counter.
"Now, don't lie," Klaus teased, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Truly, why are you here, Rebekah?" he asked again, not buying his sister's explanation for a moment.
"Fine, Nik. I need your help," Klaus rolled his eyes.
"I was thinking that, since you're in town, we can all have Christmas dinner together."
Klaus couldn't help but laugh. "You want all of us together at a dinner table."
"Come on, Nik."
"Remind me again, doesn't Katherine host Christmas dinner?"
Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Fine, a dinner before Christmas," she grumbled, letting out a huff. "Please, I just need to know that you will come."
Klaus scrutinized her while taking a sip of his coffee. "Fine."
Rebekah couldn't help but smile. "Great!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together as she picked up her handbag. "Well, now I just need to convince Mother and Father."
"Don't hold your breath."
Rebekah scoffed at the comment and checked her watch. "Wait! Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be..."
"Where's Sophia?"
"In bed."
"Nik!" Rebekah scolded.
"What?"
"She has school."
"They weren't going to do anything today anyway," Klaus shrugged, and his sister shook her head.
"Could we get a Christmas tree?" Sophia asked as they walked down the aisle of the supermarket.
" You already have one Sweetheart."
"But you don't in your room?" Sophia replied, smiling up at him. "Why do some people call you Klaus?"
"Because it's easier than Niklaus."
"Daddy calls you that."
"Yes, he does," Klaus said, ruffling her hair. "But let me tell you a secret." He leaned in and whispered, "Only special people call me Nik." He winked at Sophia, who beamed back at him.
"I wish Mommy and Daddy were back already," Sophia sighed.
"Are you already sick of me?" Klaus asked, placing a carton of milk in the shopping cart.
"No!" Sophia exclaimed, clutching his leg. "I like having you here," she said sincerely.
"Sophia," someone called out, causing them both to turn toward the voice.
"Aunt Caroline," the little girl said, running toward the blonde as Caroline lifted her up.
"Why aren't you in school, young lady?" Caroline asked, giving Klaus a disapproving look.
"I'm sick," the young girl said, letting out a fake cough, a story she had improvised after Klaus had bribed her. If anyone asked why she was not at school, she was to say she was feeling sick.
"Is that so..." Caroline glanced at Klaus. "Then I'm going to miss you in class today."
Sophia's eyes widened at the thought of missing her dance class. She turned to look at her uncle, concerned.
"I think with a bit of tea, she should be fine for the afternoon class,Love," Klaus reassured Caroline.
Caroline raised an eyebrow at him. "Sophia, how about you go help me get a box of brownies from Mrs. Lancaster," she suggested, placing the young girl down.
"What type of brownies?" Sophia asked.
"Double chocolate peppermint brownies," Caroline informed her, causing Sophia's eyes to light up.
"Yes!" Sophia exclaimed, rushing off to get the brownies.
"Be careful," they both said simultaneously, turning to look at each other and quickly looking away.
"Really?!" Caroline said as soon as Sophia left. "On your first day of officially babysitting her for a full day, and you already have her missing school, lying, and you're probably hungover or already drunk," she chastised, shaking her head.
"First off, get off your high horse. I'm not hungover, sweetheart. And second, Elijah knew, I would screw this up," Klaus retorted, tossing a box of cereal into the shopping cart.
Caroline huffed, "Well, I can't have Katherine telling me 'I told you so.' So I won't tell her about sophia missing school, but you need to try harder." She poked him in the chest. "And if you've learned anything from last night, it's no more than one sweet a day," she scolded, removing the candy he had placed in the cart.
"You have to come in?" Klaus raised an eyebrow at the young girl in front of him.
"There's a parents' meeting," she explained, avoiding eye contact and staring at her shoes.
"What?"
"It's our parents' meeting," she clarified, rolling her eyes.
"Your mother never put it on the schedule." Klaus checked the laminated paper he had on hand.
Sophia rolled her eyes. "Can you please come in?"
Klaus nodded as he closed the car door. Katherine had the right idea by leaving this off the schedule for him. She probably already knew what was going on. As he walked into the dance studio, everyone stopped talking and stared at him, making him feel like a piece of meat. Klaus couldn't help but smirk as he looked for an open seat.
"This one is free," Vicki offered, removing her bag.
"Thank you," Klaus said, taking the seat. He could see Sophia excitedly making her way to the front of the class with the rest of the group.
"So, what's this about?" Klaus inquired.
"Caroline's way of being annoying," Vicki shrugged as she crossed her legs.
"So you two do not get along I take it?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow.
Vicki rolled her eyes. "Understatement. How about we ditch this and go get a smoke?" She smirked, placing a hand on his thigh. "This is like 20 minutes of free babysitting."
"I don't smoke," Klaus replied, removing her hand.
Vicki pouted. "We can do more than a..." Her words were interrupted by the sound of a door closing, and Caroline, in pink tights, emerged. She smiled at the group of parents and students and, upon spotting Klaus, squinted her eyes and raised an eyebrow at his companion.
"Thank you all for coming," Caroline began, gripping the book she had in her hand. "Mayor Bennett has requested that we perform 'The Nutcracker' this year at the Christmas celebration on the 21st," she announced as the children cheered and parents gossiped in excitement.
"Great, just what I need," Vicki muttered, and Klaus raised an eyebrow.
Clearing her throat to regain everyone's attention, Caroline continued, "But that's not the most exciting part. We get to perform it at the towns theater." The crowd erupted in applause.
"Yes, Jessica," Caroline said, acknowledging a little girl with her hand raised.
"We get to participate, it's not just for the big kids," Jessica excitedly asked.
"No, this is for everyone, just like our spring show, but even bigger," Caroline announced, winking at the audience.
"We'll start selling tickets this week, so please make sure to get them early, parents," she urged, and the adults nodded in agreement.
"Also, I'll need help from parents, so I'll set up the sign-up list after class tomorrow. I'm sorry it's so last minute, but I just got the approval," Caroline said as she addressed questions.
"You should come to the Grill tonight," Vicki whispered to Klaus. "A few of us get together to unwind, like a casual hangout," she suggested,
"I'll think about it," Klaus told her.
"Vicki," Caroline called out, and they both looked up as Caroline walked over with a clipboard in hand.
"Mrs. Simons said you'd be more than happy to help with ticket sales while Amanda is in class. I just wanted to double-check with you," Caroline said, handing her the clipboard.
"Well, she would be paying me overtime," Vicki replied, crossing her arms.
"Please just let me know what day would be best," Caroline requested, handing her the clipboard and then glancing at Klaus with a curious expression. She continued to address parents' questions that came up.
"Like always, Caroline gets what she wants," Vicki remarked as she signed her name on the clipboard.
"I get the feeling there's a story behind that," Klaus said, raising an eyebrow.
"Stick around, and you'll soon see what I mean," Vicki said, standing up and handing him the clipboard. "Hopefully, I'll see you tonight." She winked at him and walked away.
Klaus looked down at the clipboard, ready to toss it aside, but he was interrupted by a familiar voice calling his name.
"Uncle Nik, are you going to sign up?" Sophia asked as she popped into the seat next to him. "I think you should," she told him, swinging her legs back and forth. "I'm going to be a snowflake, and I get to be in a few dances," she excitedly shared, her smile beaming at him.
"I bet you'd be better as Clara," Klaus suggested.
"I thought so too, but Aunt Caroline said I'm too young. She said that when I'm older, I'm a shoo-in," Sophia said, smiling at her uncle. "So are you going to sign up?"
"I don't think so, sweetheart."
"Why not?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure Miss. Forbes doesn't like me too much," Klaus admitted as he placed the clipboard next to him.
"That's silly. Aunt Caroline likes everyone," Sophia said, rolling her eyes. "Mom and Dad will be back for the show, right?"
"They wouldn't miss it for the world," Klaus assured her, lifting her up. "How about some ice cream?" He suggested, and Sophia smiled and nodded in agreement.
