South of France
Five Months Ago

"Mommy, what happened to our dad?" Bonnie's eyes cut over to her oldest baby. Lina stared at her with those California Teal eyes that reminded Bonnie of both she and Niklaus. Her heart ached at the thought of him.

"Uncle 'Lijah said he's in a faraway land! Is he lost?" Bonnie stilled her movements. The salad she was preparing could wait, this took precedence.

"Well," Bonnie began. "Uncle 'Lijah isn't wrong," Bonnie rounded the kitchen island and sat on the stool between the two of them. They both stared up at her expectantly and Bonnie's heart skipped ever so slightly. Lina's eyes landed on her chest. Of the twins, Lina was the most observant. Bonnie sighed as she was faced with the monumental task of explaining their father's absence. When they were younger, they accepted the fairytale of their dad being a king from a faraway land that they had to escape from until he made it safe for them. They were older now and knew that while the story was great at bedtime, it was just that, a story.

Bonnie wrapped an arm around the two of them and sighed. "When your dad and I met, we didn't like each other, at all," Bonnie explained, watching each of their faces.

"You don't like anyone, Mommy," Lina pointed out, causing Bonnie to chuckle.

"That's not true, I like you two," she stated, tickling their sides. They both squirmed and giggled.

"She likes Tyler too!" Nicky boasted, making kissy faces at Bonnie as Lina joined in. Bonnie cackled and nudged him.

"Whatever, do you all want to hear the story or not?" The twins settled down but the amusement was still in their eyes, Bonnie shook her head with a small smile. "We didn't get along but one day, your dad helped me with something magic-related and we became close friends," Bonnie explained, keeping it as G-rated as she possibly could.

"We became boyfriend and girlfriend for a little while but then I found out that I was pregnant and I got scared and ran away from him. There were a lot of people mad at your dad because he wasn't a good boy and I didn't want them to find out about you two so I had to hide from everyone." It had been years since she voiced her fears with anyone other than Elijah. There were many factors behind her decision to leave Klaus but ultimately it was for the safety of her children. At least that's what she told herself.

"You didn't hide from Uncle 'Lijah," Nikolina pointed out. The look on her face reminded Bonnie so much of Klaus she nearly gasped. Bonnie bit her lip and smiled.

"No, I didn't. Your Uncle Elijah found me."

"How come he didn't tell dad about us?" Nicky was the one to speak this time. The curiosity in his tone bordered on suspicion and Bonnie wondered how she managed to survive living with two little Niklauses all these years.

"I made him promise not to," Bonnie confessed. She wanted to be as honest as possible, even if it hurt.

"Well, we're big now so we can tell him we're here," Nicky's voice squeaked with excitement as Bonnie contemplated his suggestion.

"Maybe," she whispered, lost to her thoughts.

"What's he like?" Lina's question made Bonnie's heart twist with guilt. It's a question she always wondered about her own mother as a child and the fact that Bonnie placed that question in her daughter's heart haunted her. Unlike Rudy, she wouldn't shy away from the question.

"He's quite the character, actually." Bonnie bit her lip as she remembered both the good and bad qualities about their father. "He's cranky when you first meet him but once you get to know him, you discover this gentle side to him. He's funny and artistic like you, Nicky." At the revelation, Nicky smiled brightly.

"Will he ever find us?" Bonnie pondered his question. It'd been two months since she last heard from Elijah and the thought had been weighing on her heavily ever since. Each time Elijah returned to New Orleans, the risk of Klaus discovering where he's been increased. Other than his initial message stating that he'd arrived, he's been radio silent. The first month didn't raise any suspicions but going into month two, she was beginning to worry.

"He will, eventually." Bonnie never deluded herself into thinking she could hide from Klaus forever. The fact that she made it this long was due to Elijah's assistance, emotionally and financially. Each day she checked her phone, waiting to hear from him.

But the days went on and still, no word.

She met up with Tyler at the height fo her paranoia, forcing him to leave for his safety. She owed it to him to keep him alive.

Tyler.

The two of them reconnected during one of Bonnie's trips to Paris three years prior. The twins were homeschooled and were beginning to go stir crazy being cooped up in the house. Aside from playdates with a small community of other homeschooled children, the twins didn't get out much; a drawback of being the world's first tribrids.

-X-

Paris, France
Three Years Ago

Bonnie and the twins had spent the better part of their day touring The Louvre and were dead tired—Bonnie was, at least. The three of them sat inside of Café Marly waiting on their meals to arrive. Bonnie listened as the twins translated the menu to her. While Bonnie was fluent in the language, the twins still had work that needed to be done and so their favorite past time was showing off what they knew to her. Bonnie listened absently as they went back and forth about how to properly pronounce, 'Niçoise'. They both had it terribly wrong. Bonnie chuckled. She waited to see if either one of them would get it right while surveying their surroundings. It was a force of habit. She always expected Klaus to appear from the shadows and was always ready for an attack. If not from him then one of his vampire minions would be sent to look for her. She could never let her guard down.

Large crowds made her anxious, which is why she chose the offseason to visit the massive museum. The number of people in and out made her paranoid and while she saw nothing, she allowed her magic to flow freely. She was about to reign it back in when she felt the presence of another supernatural near them. Bonnie stiffened as her eyes scanned the area. The twins, ever observant, noticed their mother's distress and tensed as well, their vampire and wolf senses on alert. Bonnie searched the crowd frantically as she tried to locate the presence she felt. She needed to spot them before they spot her.

After a thirty-second scan, her eyes met his. It was Tyler Lockwood. He'd sensed her as well. The two of them stared each other down as they anticipated the other's move. They were both suspicious of one another and they were both justified in their suspicions.

"Stay right here, babies," she whispered as she got up and mindlessly walked towards Tyler. He visibly stiffened as Bonnie approached him. Neither of them knew what to expect from the other. The tension between them pulled until he and Bonnie were toe to toe with one another. Tyler spoke first.

"They smell like Klaus," he spoke through gritted teeth. "All of you do," the hybrid snarled. If the kids he saw were indeed Klaus's, there was a high chance that the original hybrid was nearby.

"That's because they're his," she confessed. There was no point in lying.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" The panic in Tyler's voice was easily detected. His outburst caused a few passersby to pause and glance in their direction. Bonnie's eyes darted around them before she grabbed Tyler's arm and pulled him to the side where they could speak more privately. She glanced back at the twins to find them both watching her curiously. Bonnie gave them a quick smile before muttering a muting spell so that they couldn't overhear their conversation; just in case Tyler said anything she didn't want them knowing about.

"Listen, Tyler, he doesn't know they exist so please don't say anything,"

"To WHO? Just about everyone we know is dead or scattered, Bonnie, because of HIM! God, how did you two even… happen," he seethed.

"That's valid," she nodded, then sighed tiredly. "How they came to be is a long-ass story that I have no interest in rehashing. What I need to know is that you won't utter a word to a fucking soul. It's the least you owe me since you left me high and damn dry when I was stuck on the other side." Tyler's face softened a tad as he remembered sabotaging Bonnie's chance of being rescued from the other side to save a girl he'd just met. "What was her name, Liv? I hope she was worth it," Bonnie spat venomously. Tyler's brows dipped on his forehead.

"Liv is dead, remember? So you can drop it," he spat. "And have you forgotten my uncle Mason? Because I haven't," Tyler countered. If she wanted to bring up old shit, they could sling mud all day. Tyler continued when Bonnie didn't retaliate, "Now, since we've gotten that out of the way, what are you doing here?"

"What does it fucking look like, I'm taking my kids on vacation, what are YOU doing here?" Tyler gave a pointed look that Bonnie almost laughed at. "We never get out. You of all people would know that hiding from Klaus is a full-time job. I wanted them to feel normal for a change," Tyler glanced back at the kids in question and his heart softened just a tad. Had Bonnie been anyone else, he hated to think of the ways he'd use Klaus's flesh and blood against him.

"I suppose now I can't kill him," Tyler gruffed. Bonnie chuckled and the sound was foreign to Tyler's ears. He hasn't heard her laugh in decades. Her infectious laugh earned a smile from Tyler who felt some of the tension leave his body. Not even twenty minutes ago, he saw Bonnie and the children she had with her as a threat and now, they were already falling into step with one another. Tyler's suspicions were lulled by his wolf instincts. His wolf trusted her. It always did, even when he didn't.

"You can't, but you can kick his ass without any reservations," Bonnie assured. Tyler smiled. She has never given him shit for wanting revenge against Klaus like the rest of their 'friends'. "I haven't forgotten about what he did to you," she added softly. The anger Tyler constantly held onto rose to the surface and he glanced down at Bonnie, eyes glowing.

"How were you able to… have something with him after all he's done to us?" Tyler asked softly. It was hard not to feel betrayed, but Bonnie suffered at the hands of the Mikaelsons almost as much as he did. Bonnie took his question for what it truly was, curiosity.

"I will never know the depth of the pain he caused you, Tyler," Bonnie began, "but in my situation, Klaus was less of a villain to me than Damon and Stefan were. Klaus didn't kill my mother as he did yours, that was Damon," she remembered. "I was able to forgive Damon and Stefan so, Klaus was sort of a non-factor for me," Bonnie explained the best she could. "And also… there's a long story behind it that I'm not about to rehash," she repeated. "I saw another side of him that none of us ever saw and it led to, that," She nodded her head in the twins' direction, glancing over to find that they were now occupied by the food that was delivered to their table.

Tyler absorbed Bonnie's words, realizing that everyone had different perspectives when it came to the shit they experienced in their hellhole of a town. Hearing Bonnie's side of things eased his apprehension a little, though he was still leery about being in such close proximity to a pair of Mikaelsons. That family could sniff each other out in a pile of elephant dung.

"You won't be able to hide them forever," Tyler warned. Bonnie nodded.

"I know, it won't be forever. Just until I'm sure they can survive being around him, emotionally." It's what she told herself every day. The two of them stared in the twin's direction, though their thoughts were miles away.

"I can't be around you," he warned, not sure why he needed to tell her. Bonnie smiled sadly and nodded.

"I know," she confirmed, turning to look at him. "Still, it's nice seeing a familiar face," she answered, not knowing how familiar that face would become.

A/N: Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. In honor of my late grandmother, I decided to upload a chapter to both stories. Happy reading!