Chapter 8-Home By: Phillip Phillips

The girls landed in the early afternoon and were already tired. Traveling took a lot out of Josie. Hope had spent the flight helping her girlfriend to focus on anything but the motion of the plane.

When they made it out of the gate with their luggage, Freya was waiting for them. She held out a sign that made the girls laugh in embarrassment.

HOSIE

"Really Aunt Freya?"

"What? Keelin thought it was cute."

"And was it her idea or yours?"

"What do you think? Look at it!"

It was done in rainbow colors and covered in glitter. There were streamers attached to it and just screamed to the world.

"Aunt Keelin."

They both laughed while Josie looked confused.

"It's sweet and cute. What's wrong with it?"

Freya looked and Josie and then turned back to Hope smirking. Hope shrugged her shoulders and smiled before taking their bags and loading them into the car. Her girl was just like Keelin when it came to gestures such as this one.

"This is going to be so much fun when Kol gets in. Rebekah is already at the compound. I had to fight to get her to agree not to come pick you up. I thought I would give you a moment to breathe first."

"Please tell me that Aunt Davina could come to and that Kol isn't here alone?"

"Yes, Davina came too. She promised that she would make him behave."

Freya wrapped her arm around Josie's shoulder and leaned in a little like she was telling her a secret.

"Don't worry too much. They will mostly pick on Hope and only be a little embarrassing. Plus, you and I both know that one there is going to be her overprotective self and will probably try to make us Mikaelson's behave."

"I'm not worried. You're Hope's family. Family is important. I can take a little poking."

The blonde smiled brightly. She could really understand why Hayley had like her so much. She could see the waves of goodness flowing from her. She had to say, based on the little she knew and from what Hope told her, she completely agreed.

"Who wants to ride up front with me?"

"Actually Aunt Freya, Josie has motion sickness, and it helps if she can close her eyes and be distracted. So we are going to sit in the back together. Maybe nap."

Freya nodded in understanding. She was pretty sure that she had a spell or a potion at home that may help the young witch with that. She would have to look for it later.

The girls climbed into the back seat together. Josie curling into Hope so that she could try to sleep during the short car ride. Mostly, Josie slept, and Hope held her and stroked her hair and rubbed her back.

When they arrived to the compound, Hope woke the sleeping girl gently. She knew that this trip had been really hard on her girl.

"Hey baby, time to get up, we're here."

Josie woke with a soft smile as she looked up into the loving face of her girlfriend. She really could not think of a better way to wake up.

"We're there already? That was fast."

"Yeah we are, and I can already hear a full house."

Turning to her aunt, the shorter girl gave her a pleading look. She wanted to make sure that this wasn't going to be an ambush on the poor girl. Freya nodded her head in understanding and wrapped an arm around both girls.

"We'll leave the bags for now. I'll make Kol bring them in later."

Freya guided the girls into the compound and instinctively found her way to where she knew her wife would be with their son.

"Hey honey, look what I found while I was out. Can we keep them?"

Keelin laughed at her wife. She loved to see the more playful side. Something that she got to see slightly more often since the birth of their son.

"I don't know babe. Who is going to feed and water them, and take them on walks?"

"But they are just so cute!"

"You know, if you are just going to mock us, we could just go and stay at one of the other houses for the week."

"Sorry, but that is going to be a 'No' love."

"Aunt Bex!"

Hope ran over and jumped into her aunt's waiting arms. It had been a long time since they had seen each other. Rebekah had been traveling with Marcel and hasn't been in the states for a while.

"I have missed you little one."

"I have missed you too. I want to introduce you to someone, very important to me."

Hope walks over and takes Josie's hand. She leads her over to her aunt.

"Auntie Bex, this is Josie, my girlfriend, Josie this is my Aunt Rebekah."

The blonde looked over the young girl in front of her, as if she were sizing her up. She had an unreadable look on her face that gave nothing away.

"I like her. Welcome to the family."

And with that, Josie was wrapped into the ancient vampire's arms being twirled around. She started to giggle at the unexpected event.

"Okay, okay. Put the girlfriend down and step away."

Josie was still giggling as Hope stepped up to pull her back from her aunt. It seemed that Hope was protective no matter who it was. It was so cute. Josie leaned into her girlfriend's side and hugged her arm.

"Look what we have here."

Turning around, Hope was engulfed in a head lock. Instincts kicking in, she automatically grabbed the assailant and flipped them onto their back. Before she could follow through with the strike that she had aimed at their neck, she pulled up.

"One of these days, you are going to learn not to telegraph your moves Uncle Kol."

"How was that telegraphed? I came up from behind you and had you in a headlock."

"First mistake was that you spoke. Second was that you didn't go for the instant kill. You know, you hung out with dad and Uncle Elijah for centuries, you would think that you would have learned a few things."

The Mikaelson women were all laughing at this point. None so much as Davina. She did enjoy watching her husband being taken down by a teenaged girl.

"Hi honey. We missed you. How have you been?"

Hope took her foot off of her uncle and walked over to hug her aunt. She had missed Davina. She was the closest in age to herself and was well versed in dealing with all of the Mikaelsons. She was counting on her to help keep everyone in line this week.

"I've been doing really well."

"Yeah, we heard. How many girls ended up on the ceiling this time? I told you that you have to mix it up a bit or they were going to think you boring."

"For your information Aunt Davina, it was one girl, and it was the wall not the ceiling. And that is not why Aunt Freya got called in. That was the other things I did to her."

Davina raised her brow and gave a curious look. Hope was going to have fun filling her in on everything that has been happening with her life. She always had enjoyed the talks that they had. It felt more like gossiping with an older sister.

"Ok, now, since everyone is her. Josie, this is my family that is going to be on their absolute best behavior and not embarrass me this week."

Hope introduced, while give each member a pointed look. She was not going to let them scare her girlfriend off.

"Everyone, this is my amazing, talented, beautiful, sweet, and all around perfect girlfriend, Josie."

The brunette dipped her head to hide how red her cheeks were. She loved the way that Hope saw her, but did she really have to introduce her like that.

Keelin was the first to laugh. She could see it already, Hope was whipped for her girl. She was going to tease her all week. She had to admit, Freya was right, they did make a cute couple.

"Okay, let's move this along. Kol get the bags, Freya, please take Nik. Everyone else, dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. Go freshen up and met in the dining room."

Everyone split up at the command given by the doctor. Hope pulled Josie behind her and headed for her room. Kol would bring the bags up for them in a minute.

Opening the door to her childhood room, the shorter girl ushered the taller girl in. The first thing that Josie noticed was that the room was very 'Hope'. There were paintings hanging and leaning against the walls. Her easel with wheat looked like paints at the ready were in one corner, just like they were left earlier that morning instead of months ago.

The desk was neat and clean. It sported an old fashioned ink and quill set that looked to have been well used. The paper was older as well. Blank and the kind that was better suited for rolling and tying with string or ribbon.

The wall opposite had a huge entertainment center. It had a stereo system that appeared to be able to play everything from a record to a flash drive. The TV was large enough to take up the majority of the wall. Attached was no fewer than six different gaming systems as well as a Blu Ray player. She knew that Hope had streaming services, so she wondered if she even used half of this stuff.

The bed was a four poster of dark sturdy wood. Though, the mattress was very modern. It was so soft and made you want to sink into it and never leave.

All in all, it was the perfect blend of the old and the new that made up the core of who Hope was. So just like the girl herself, Josie loved the room and felt safe and at home.

"Your room is amazing."

"Thanks. It took a long time to get everything. Some of these gaming systems aren't even made anymore, and no one uses Blu Ray anymore. But they seem to be the gap time from our childhood. I have the old that is my family, the new that is us, and these few things that just blend them."

The witch loved to see Hope feel so at ease. She could feel all the stress and worry from school just melt off of her as they entered.

Not being able to resist, Josie walked over and wrapped the tribrid in her arms. She wanted to hold her while she felt this relaxed. She laid her head on the girls shoulder and hugged her tightly.

"I love seeing you like this. Free and relaxed."

"Yeah, well, this is the one place that I know that I can be myself and that no one will expect anything that I can't give to them. Here, and in your arms are the only places that I am home."

Lifting her head, the brunette stared into the blue eyes that she had fallen in love with. She leaned in for what was to be a chaste kiss.

Just as her lips touched Hope's, Kol burst in with the bags.

Hope refused to let go of Josie just because her uncle walked in. So she wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and turned to face the vampire.

"You know, there is this old fashioned thing called knocking. You would think that with as old as you are you would have learned some manners."

Kol laughed at his niece. He always loved it when she was home. With the exception of his wonderful wife, no one else's wits and tongue were as sharp as to be able to keep up with him.

"Yes, and there is this other old fashion idea that says that you and your girlfriend sleep in separate rooms. Should we look into that?"

"Sure we could, oh but wait, all the rooms are mine since dad left me the compound so, I guess any room that she is in is mine, might as well be this one."

The grin that spread on the man's face let Hope know that he was proud of the quick return.

"Damn, I miss you so much when you are away."

"You could always come visit. I'm pretty sure I could convince Alaric not to stake you. Or at least Josie may be able to."

"I don't know Hope, you know how dad feels about asses, or you should since you are the biggest at the school."

Kola dn Hope both looked shocked at the younger girl. Their mouths hanging slightly opened, with shock. Just before Josie could panic, they started to laugh so hard that they doubled over.

"Oh I like this one Hope. You have to keep her and bring her around more often."

"That is the plan. We are going to change real quick. See you down stairs in a few."

With a nod, Kol left the two girls to get ready for dinner. The girls changed their clothes and washed their faces to freshen up a bit.

"Ready for this?"

"No, but let's go anyway."

Walking into the dining room, the girls saw that the food was already on the table and that everyone was sitting around waiting for them.

"Sorry, we wanted to freshen up and change. That was a long plane ride."

"It was only a few hours! You are dramatic."

"It's my fault, I get motion sickness and traveling is hard for me."

Hope pulled out Josie's seat for her as they both sat down. Hope to Freya's right and Josie to Davina's left.

The conversations flowed easily and everyone was enjoying themselves. There were no dull moments with the Mikaelsons, especially when they all decided that they should share stories of Hope as a baby.

"Okay, I think you have embarrassed me enough for this life. You can do more in the next one."

Taking a little pity on the tribrid, Davina changed the subject.

"So what do you plan on doing while you are in town girls?"

"I want to take Josie to the Bayou and to the Quarter. Bourbon street too. But I also want to do other touristy things. The Audubon Zoon and the Aquarium of the Americas. And my favorite place, the New Orleans Museum of Art. Plus, I promised fresh beignets, so we have to get those."

"Oh, are you going to make them for her?"

Josie perked up at this suggestions.

"You can bake?"

Before Hope could answer for herself, everyone jumped in.

"Of course she can!"

"At least beignets."

"The baker at Café du Monde taught her after Klaus compelled them."

Josie looked at her girlfriend with an excited look on her face. She loved to learn new things about Hope, and she had a feeling that this week was going to be a gold mine of information.

"We have to make them ourselves. You can't get fresher than homemade."

The auburn-haired girl just shook her head. She knew that she would be making homemade beignets. There was nothing in this world that she would do for or give the beautiful girl next to her.

"Well, I guess that means a trip to the store is going to be in order so that I can get everything that we will need."

"No need, we already have everything in the kitchen. You know that I wasn't going to let you out of this house without making them. Nik would have cried for a month. He swears that only Hope's will do."

Everyone laughed at that and looked at the little boy who was trying his best to give a fearful glare.

"Hope's are the best! She puts magic in them!"

Smirking, Hope winked at her cousin and waved him to come over to her. She leaned in and whispered something in his ear that got a huge smile.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The little boy jumped up and down and ran around the table a few times before sitting back in his seat with a huge grin still on his face.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing."

Josie leaned over and whispered in Hope's ear. The older girl zeroed in on the sensation and on the words themselves. She loved having Josie feel this comfortable with everyone around.

"I'll tell you later."

The blush that creeped up Josie's cheeks was enough to start the teasing again. It was light and good hearted, though Hope did still get a little overprotective.

After dinner was over and everything was cleaned up, the girls were tired from the day and were ready to head to bed.

"We are going to turn in. We have a early day planned for tomorrow. Lots to do and lots to see."

Everyone wished the girls a good night and told them that they would see them in the morning. As they climbed the stairs, hand in hand, Josie leaned her head onto Hope's shoulder. Hope could feel that her girl was drained from the day and would be asleep shortly after getting into bed.

They went through their normal routine for bed. Hope got out all their sleep wear while Josie brushed her teeth and washed her face. Hope was changed when she came out and then they switched so that in a few short minutes, they were both dressed and ready for bed.

After crawling under the covers, the two gravitated towards each other and snuggled together ready for sleep.

"I had fun meeting all your family today. Not nearly as scary as I thought."

"I told you that they would all love you. I mean, what's not to love."

Josie leaned in and gave Hope a sweet and soft kiss before pulling back and resting her head on her chest. Hope's arms wrapped securely around her, holding her close. The feel of warmth and safety that they both got from this was something that they both craved.

"Goodnight baby."

"Goodnight love."

T.B.C.