Baby Mikaelson

Chapter Two: Hot Chocolates & Discoveries

Klaus Mikaelson

I awoke that morning to the sound of my phone vibrating against the counter surface of my nightstand. Without opening my eyes, I stretched my arm across the bed and began searching the counter surface in search of it, desperate to put an end to the noise. When I finally retrieved it, I opened my eyes and began to push myself up in bed until I felt my headboard behind me. Checking my notifications I was surprised to find I had a text from Kol. He hadn't been in touch these past few weeks, just a mere phone call here and there as he travelled and kept busy with a few new girls in his life. He wasn't stretched for company, and there had been pictures to prove just that.

I just arrived at the airport. I should be back in Mystic Falls in a few hours. Is there a welcome home party tonight?- Kol

His last call was a few days ago, when he mentioned he might return to Mystic Falls. I never took him seriously, of course; a small town such as this had never been enough for my brother, nor was it what I felt I wanted anymore either. I believe the only thing that spoke to Kol and I about Mystic Falls was being around other supernatural beings and reminding them exactly who was the alpha. Apparently, Kol was not only returning to town but also planned to live at the house. It would be nice having someone around the house, even if that someone was Kol. I needed a distraction from thinking about Rebekah and the recent event. She now lay in the old Lockwood cellar and would remain there for a hundred years if I so desired. She would remain out of my sight until I was ready to forgive her for her actions against me.

She wouldn't be escaping either; only Stefan Salvatore and I knew of her location, and it would remain that way.

I pulled the remaining blankets off from around my legs and finally pulled myself out of bed as I replied to Kol.

Maybe. - Klaus

On top of everything I had planned today, I now had the possibility of a welcome home party. I sighed heavily just at the thought of the type of party Kol would enjoy. His tastes were unlike anyone I'd met in a thousand years, and I lived in Paris in 1920; it didn't get any crazier than that. I wasn't going to waste my time planning anything; I had hybrids to do just that. The sire bond was strong, and they would follow my command, even for something as frivolous as a party. They knew what I would do to them if they didn't obey.

With that decided, I sent the same text to all of them.

Arrange a party for tonight at my estate. Nothing but the best if you don't want me to remove each of your spines. -Klaus

After that was out of the way, I walked across the room to the balcony doors, pushing them outward. My boxers were hanging low around my waist as I stepped outside, past the sun chairs, stopping at the bannister to look out onto the land. The estate was a hundred acres in total, and if I was going to stay here much longer, I would have to extend. Living with siblings had turned out differently than I expected, even after having centuries to prepare for all manner of possibilities.

It was a clear morning and still very early. The sky was blue, and it seemed to be getting warmer by the minute. I considered going for a run, but not around the grounds; I'd have to push myself harder and run into town if I was going to break a sweat. I'd always been a strong runner; even in my human life, I had to be faster than the rabbits I hunted to ensure my father would not catch and beat me. He always believed I was weaker than him, but now he was finally dead and I was still alive. Yet I still dreamed he was after me, lurking in the shadows, just waiting for me to be caught unaware. Especially now that I'd finally settled and established myself. I had more people in my life than I ever had before, and he would have told me this made me weak too.

Trusting in others was never something I took lightly.

I pushed thoughts of my father to the back of my mind, where they belonged. If I ran into town, then I could even check up on my hybrids and make sure they were hard at work.

In the end, I decided against the run and left my balcony, keeping the doors open just enough for the morning breeze to come through my room. I entered my bathroom, the largest in the house, of course, and immediately turned on the shower on full blast. I closed the shower doors behind me to allow the entire walk-in to heat up and steam.

Over at the sink counter, I toss some cold water on my face in an effort to help wake me up. I didn't feel like I had slept nearly enough and knew I needed blood sooner rather than later. At the sink, I brushed my teeth first, shaved, and removed my necklaces in preparation for the shower.

I wiped the excess shaving foam from around my ears and closed my eyes upon hearing my father's voice.

"NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU ANYMORE, BOY!"

This didn't happen nearly as often as it had before he died. There were times Rebekah and I were on the run from him, and she would hear me shouting in the night; he would even come for me in my dreams.

I opened my eyes, looking back at my reflection now.

Now that I knew the truth about my real father, I no longer saw the eyes of Mikael looking back at me. My mother would have done well to remain with my real father and give my family a real chance in life. We could have been so much more had she found the strength to get out from beneath him.

Not that it mattered now; there was no going back. Only forward.

Caroline Forbes

After Elena settled on the peach-colored towels, we made our way out of the store. With the air conditioning working its magic in the store, we were completely oblivious to the growing heat outside. As we headed outside, I recalled something Klaus had once told me. I could hear his words perfectly in my mind.

All of the windows in Bonnie's car were open by the time we pulled out of the parking spot. I didn't know what exactly I was feeling about what Bonnie had confessed to me. But the entire journey back to Mystic Falls, I kept my eyes on her from the backseat, just waiting for her to drop the bomb. Elena mostly kept the conversation going on the way home; she had so many stories about living at the boarding house, finding a bunch of first editions in the library, attempting to make breakfast for Damon in their kitchen, and even putting some of her stuff in storage in their basement.

Anyone would think she was intending to live there from now on; she hadn't mentioned what would happen with Jeremy after he returned from the lake house. In fact, she didn't mention him at all the entire time we were out. It wasn't like her, but right now she was in love, and all she wanted to do was share that, and I understood. What I couldn't understand was Bonnie. It seemed strange that the same person trying to find the cure for Elena was also working on a backup plan should we fail. Bonnie hated vampires; no one knew that better than me. I could still see the way she looked at me the night I turned, like I was disgusting, like I was trash and no longer her friend.

I still think about that sometimes, and she never even asks what I went through when Katherine put that pillow on my face.

So Bonnie's sudden interest in a future possible baby plan for Elena made no sense when we still had a chance at securing the cure. Then it hit me. It was because Elena was now a vampire. I had made peace a long time ago with the fact that their friendship was stronger than ours; we didn't talk about it, but at least I knew that to be the case. Bonnie wanted to make sure no doors were closed for Elena, should she be faced with immortality. She was just doing what any friend would do for another. I, however, wanted to keep my focus on finding the cure for her. None of us really knew Shane, and I couldn't help but wonder why a stranger to us would spend time researching something rather, well, incredibly personal for Elena. Maybe they had talked and bonded, but something didn't feel right to me.

All I could think was that perhaps Bonnie was encouraging him to look into the subject further so that she could give Elena some good news after everything she'd endured recently. She and Elena had remained close even after Elena had turned. She didn't have the same issues she had when it was me.

I knew that not telling her was my fault, but Bonnie had hurt me so much by telling me about her project with Shane. I wasn't trying to drive a wedge between us, but I felt Bonnie had done just that by not even considering the possibility that I might also want to know information about vampire reproduction.

I didn't think of considering it, especially not right now when there was so much going on in my life and still so much I wanted to do with my life outside of Mystic Falls. But maybe someday, when I feel ready, I could consider looking into it. But the way Bonnie spoke back at the store about her efforts, she may as well have called it "The Elena Gilbert Project."

Did she even see me? Did she even stop for a second and realise she was telling a girl who had also been robbed of her human life and the possibility of having babies? No, she didn't, and just reliving that moment in the store caused tears to threaten in my eyes. I knew she didn't want to hurt me, but in our five-minute or less conversation, she had sadly made it clear exactly what she thought of our friendship and of me. Didn't she see I was still the same person on the inside?

I didn't babysit as much as Elena did growing up, but that didn't mean I didn't like children. Maybe I hadn't ever talked about having one some day either, but again, that didn't mean I shut my mind to the idea of having a family. Elena always talked about having a family, even when she and Matt had just started dating.

It seems like a long time ago now when I think about it.

After we arrived back at Mystic Falls, we agreed to head into town and grab a bite to eat at the grill. When we arrived, the town was packed, and it was hard to find a parking space. The grill was full. We finally found an empty table way in the back and ordered some hot chocolate when we found out it would be a while before our food arrived.

When Elena headed to the restroom, Bonnie wasted little time retrieving the book from her bag again. However, this time she didn't crack it up; she placed the book on the table where Elena had been sitting. I watched as Bonnie then proceeded to straighten up the table, even using a napkin to wipe it down, until everything was to her satisfaction.

Then it dawned on me what she was up to.

"You're going to tell her about it now?"

"Yeah, she's going to be so excited."

I reached out for my cup, clasping it in both hands, and focused my attention on the white marshmallows bobbing up and down.

"Are you sure now is the best time and place?"

"I can't exactly wait and tell her back at the boarding house when Damon might be home."

"What's so wrong about that?"

"Didn't you hear what I said back at the store?" Bonnie leaned forward. "If Elena wants to do this, then she'll need a hybrid to help her."

"Do you mean for blood or something?"I paused as Bonnie raised a brow at me and said, "Oh."

Before Bonnie could finish or even begin to explain to me how exactly this project of hers could work, we saw Elena coming back to the table.

She sat down, smiling at both of us.

"What did I miss?"

I looked to Bonnie, who, not surprisingly, was smiling at Elena. You'd think Bonnie was already imagining Elena with a baby in her arms. Her smile really got under my skin, and suddenly I was very pissed off. Neither of them noticed my jaw tightening as I clenched my teeth together, a bad habit from my human years.

"What are you guys talking about?" Elena pulled her chair up and sat down.

"Uh, Elena, I discovered something."

That's right Bonnie had found something, and it was all for Elena. I brought my cup up to my lips and took a sip, hoping some chocolate would help in some small measure to increase my suddenly very dark and miserable mood, especially as my eyes drifted over to Bonnie sliding the book closer to Elena.

I knew it was childish. I could hear myself, but in that moment, it felt like my friendship with Bonnie had ended.

"Elena, you know I have total faith that someday soon we're going to find a cure for you. You know that, don't you?"

Elena brought her hand over hers and began to nod her head.

"Of course I do, Bonnie." "I know"

"But I have been working on something else with Shane these last couple of weeks, a kind of backup plan for you if we don't find the cure."

"What kind of plan exactly?"

Bonnie smiled and practically began jumping in her seat, like a kid about to get a golden star for their test scores.

"We've been looking into something. Something just for you."

There it was again, the Elena Gilbert-only project. I couldn't even look Bonnie in the eye and merely focused all my attention on Elena's reaction.

"It would take some time, and we would need a lot of help to see it through, but..." Bonnie brought both her hands over Elena's then.

"If we're right, there is a chance." "We've found a way for you to have a baby, Elena."

Elena's jaw dropped slightly, but no words escaped her mouth. She was speechless, and I couldn't blame her; I reacted the same way.

"I don't understand," Elena explained. "Do you mean I can get pregnant after the cure or—"

"I'm talking about "As a vampire, you're having your own child."

Elena's hand slipped from Bonnie's grasp and landed at her sides.

"Wait." "Are you serious?"

In the corner of my eye, I saw Bonnie begin to nod her head with the same smile upon her lips.

"I thought it wasn't possible for vampires to have children. Damon told me so himself."

"When did you two talk about babies?" I asked then.

Beside me Bonnie looked my way. Had she forgotten I was here?

"When we were in Atlanta, I had questions about the reason I looked like Katherine."

Oh, I merely nodded my head and returned to my cup of hot chocolate.

Bonnie focused her attention back on Elena. "In the past, it wasn't possible at all; there had to be a balance." "But now that Klaus has become a hybrid and has begun making other hybrids, the balance has shifted. The books we've been reading state that if a creature such as a werewolf and vampire were combined, their blood would carry certain cells that would filter through their bodies differently than if they were each alone. As a result, hybrid males and females can reproduce."

"Wait, Bonnie." "Just slow down."

"I'm still in the dark." You just said hybrid males and females were capable of this. "I'm a vampire."

"I know I did." Bonnie paused and sighed. "This next part is difficult."

Elena leaned forward seemingly curious; I was listening, but Bonnie had even looked my way in the last ten minutes.

"If you did want to become pregnant some day, then you would need a hybrid in order to help you do that." Bonnie shifted in her chair. "Elena, what I mean is, if you wanted to do this, Damon wouldn't be the father."

Elena leaned back in her chair in complete disbelief.

"Just hear me out," Bonnie said.

"No." "I don't think I want to," Elena told her.

Shane has been working at the lab in the college. He's been working with some hybrid blood samples. He's been doing all kinds of things I don't understand because, let's face it, I suck at biology, but he says with what he's found from the blood and the research, he's really confident that it would work.

"Bonnie, I'm a vampire; my body isn't capable of doing that."

"Should you do this, then a hybrid, uh, sample," Bonnie said not even being able to look Elena in the eye or say the word "sperm" "After it was inside, it would change you too." "You wouldn't become a hybrid, but you would have enough cells inside your body for it to become strong enough to carry a baby to term."

"From their sperm?"

"I know it's ridiculous; Shane explains it so much better than me. He doesn't even know I was planning on telling you this today. I just couldn't hold it back any longer.

Elena shook her head. "I don't know what to say." "It doesn't even sound real somehow."

Finally, someone had some sense at the table besides me. Stranger danger from Shane was finally rolling into the station.

"But I know Shane," Elena said then.

What? Is she being serious right now?

"He wouldn't look into this for a second if he thought it wasn't possible." "He doesn't seem the type of guy who wastes his time."

Bonnie nodded. "He just wants to help you." He said you were too good a person to miss out on something so precious.

Shane told me about his family at the lake house. I understand what he means by this. I just can't believe this is possible.

Did they even hear themselves?

"How would this even work? I mean, can you explain that part?"

"We would need the help of a hybrid, someone we trusted, and someone free of their sire bond with Klaus."

"Oh my god, Klaus." If he ever found out this was possible, Elena stopped, saying, "He would use it against us; it would be his new way of making the next doppelganger."

"Not if he didn't know about it."

"He finds everything out sooner or later, we all know that."

"He wouldn't know if we were careful." If you weren't in Mystic Falls, if you were in hiding and out of his reach, it would be simple enough, and if you return, you can tell everyone you and Damon adopted. Klaus wouldn't suspect otherwise.

"You really believe Klaus would buy that?" Elena questioned

"He would believe it if we made him believe it."

"But still," Elena sighed, "I don't think I could even consider doing that to Damon." We haven't even talked about our future once; everything is still new to us. "I'm happy with the way things are between us right now."

"Don't you think he would want this for you if he knew you couldn't have the cure instead?"

"I don't know, Bonnie." Elena told her, "I mean, there are still so many questions; we don't even know if it would work for sure and if it would be dangerous."

"Shane suggested that if you did try it, then the only change he'd suggest is that you double up on your blood and food intake." "Treat your body like a human and a vampire at the same time," she paused, "and he did say it might take some time for it to work; even humans struggle, so he wouldn't expect immediate results just because you're supernatural."

Elena smiled and said, "It would be incredible." "But I don't know how I feel about discussing this before talking about it with Damon," she explained.

"There are a lot of things to discuss," Bonnie agreed.

"I'm not agreeing to anything, but if I did this, "How would it happen?"

"You're going to be surprised at how normal it is for a normal pregnancy." Shane says he can find someone he trusts who will perform an ultrasound on you and help you get fertility work done without any questions asked. And he has someone who can reach out to a hybrid."

"I'm just in total shock."

For the first time in almost twenty minutes, the pair of them finally looked my way. I looked from one to the other, seeing Elena smile back at me while Bonnie's eyes prayed for words of hope and encouragement from me. I just didn't know what to say; I didn't even know how to sit here a second longer with them.

Elena had done exactly what Bonnie had, and she only saw the target. I was sitting across from her, in the same situation she was in, denied the same opportunities, and she didn't even notice me.

So I did what I found myself doing a lot these days: I forced the best smile I could on my face before the two returned to talking amongst themselves.

I continued to listen as Bonnie told Elena about all the research she had been doing with Shane at the college and about the pile of books she had at home, but I managed to tune her out. What I couldn't block out was Elena. It was as if she had completely forgotten her plans to discuss this subject with Damon first.

Instead, she had skipped ten chapters ahead, and all she could do was smile and talk about the idea of becoming a mother and the idea that it might look like her, and that Damon might focus on the idea of Elena's baby rather than the reality he would face if he were to one day agree to this.

She was skipping chapters and ignoring what Bonnie had told her about the possibility that it would be hard to even get her pregnant in the first place. The two were just focused on the goal and not the work.

Elena and Damon had only been together for two weeks.

All I knew for sure was that I needed some fresh air. I excused myself from the table, claiming I was going to the restroom; the restaurant was so crowded that neither of them noticed me heading out the side door. Despite the heat, it was better than being stuck indoors. I crossed the street to the town square and sat on the first available bench, dumping my bag to the side as I leaned back and closed my eyes.

"Hello Caroline"

I knew the voice, so I didn't open my eyes before I let out a sigh of frustration. I opened my eyes to find Klaus heading my way, his hands tucked in the pockets of his familiar black coat. He clearly didn't feel the heat like the rest of us did.

"Why are you all alone, love?" Klaus asked as he stopped in front of me.

"I needed some air." "Not that it is any of your business."

"What a spot you picked," he said, taking a seat beside me then.

"What are you talking about?"

He smiled and said, "This is the same bench where you and I almost had our first conversation."

"Huh, funny, you should remember that and not what followed." I reminded him of grabbing my arms when he realised he had been played.

"So where are all your friends?" Aren't girlfriends supposed to comfort their friends when their boyfriend has been unfaithful? "Shouldn't there at least be ice cream?"

"You have so much to learn about women," I told him, but still, I couldn't help but smile slightly.

He was trying to make me smile. It was actually improving my current mood.

It was different talking to him than talking to my friends. I didn't feel like he would judge me, and if he did, I could judge him right back for all the pain he had caused people all over town.

Today had been so out of my control that I hadn't even done anything that I wanted to, even once. So when I out of nowhere turned myself to face him, I didn't doubt what I wanted.

"If I ask you something, "Can you do me a favour and not throw it back in my face?" I asked him

In response, Klaus leaned forward towards me.

"If you had a chance to do something, would you?"Something that would forever alter your identity "It may appear extreme, and it may cause significant harm to many people, but" I paused to catch my breath, "it's something you think you might want." "Something that is so rare."

I half expected Klaus to look at me like I had lost my mind since I didn't even really know what I was trying to explain.

"Well, if you're thinking about doing it, you're already half way there."

But doing this changes everything. "Like everything," I looked away for a moment. "What makes it worse is that you're the one convincing me to do it," I confessed.

"How am I doing that?"

"This is the part where you can't throw it back in my face."

Our eyes locked, and Klaus slowly began nodding his head.

"You have my word," he assured me.

"It's what you said to me that day at Miss Mystic Falls." I confessed, "What a thing to have to work that hard every day, just to stay alive, to be constantly on the verge of death, and how satisfying every day must be that it survived."

Klaus had no idea what I was talking about, and I was glad. If he had known what I meant by the possibility of me being pregnant, he would have had a few choice words to say on the subject, I was sure. But what I told him was true; his words had been on my mind the entire journey back to Mystic Falls. I heard those words, and I thought about the idea of being pregnant as a vampire.

"So, you remember some of our conversations?"

I faced Klaus, told him, "I remember what matters,"

I got up to my feet then, turning and heading back in the direction of the grill. Quietly confident that Klaus had watched me all the way back.