Part 3

The sunlight streaming through the sheer linen curtains fell over her face, stirring her early. Caroline had been used to strength since turning into a vampire, but this morning she felt a little bit stronger, more certain, as if her vision was sharper and her hearing better. It could have been the blood that Klaus had given her the day before or the twins giving her an extra boost.

She stretched languidly in bed, murmuring low in her throat when the arm thrown over her body tightened. He pulled her back tightly against him even in his deep sleep. Caroline licked her lips, deciding whether she would laze about and enjoy the feeling of lying flush next to him.

For all his promises of beauty and luxury, one would have thought her first time waking up next to Klaus would be somewhere exotic—in a hut on stilts lost somewhere in the Maldives or a castle in the Highlands with a roaring fireplace to ward off the harsh winter. She certainly did not think it was going to be a humble farmhouse somewhere in Louisiana, with his family members occupied the rest of the cramped home.

Her shirt had since risen in her sleep. Caroline placed a hand over his bare arm as it rested on the still taut skin of her abdomen. Idly she wondered how his strong hand would look lying there as the weeks turned to months, and her belly would curve and stretch into what she had long accepted would be impossible.

She still had to tell him. Hayley swore she wouldn't breathe a word to Klaus. And after weeks of planning with the werewolf, of staying with her and seeing how much the other woman adored and sacrificed for her little girl, Caroline recognized she was one of the most trustworthy people she would meet. As long as she was part of the pack. By now, after the close forced relationship they needed to form to save the Mikaelsons, Caroline knew that Hayley considered her and her babies just that.

Loathe to disrupt the cocoon, Caroline turned in his arms and studied his sleeping face. She did not realize how deep he slept. For some reason, she had thought he would be a restless sleeper, plagued by horrors he wrought or terrors he endured. Instead, in his sleep, Klaus Mikaelson looked like an exhausted little boy seeking refuge in his dreams. She laid a hand on his cheek, enjoying the roughness of his stubble under her palm.

Reluctantly, she extricated herself from the heaven of his embrace. Caroline saw the robe hanging at the back of the door. She smiled at the thought. Caroline thought nothing of shrugging on a bedrobe and spending the rest of the day in that, but she heard the cheery noise downstairs and knew that there was company present. She could not parade around in that on the day she was first introduced properly to legends she had only just heard referenced before, one of whose murders she had a hand in.

As she approached the kitchen, the voices grew louder. Having grown up as an only child, the noise was uncommon. She could not place whether there was a fight or just a loud banter. Caroline emerged and she gave a bright, if uncertain, smile.

To her shock, Caroline found herself enveloped by a tight hug. "There's the Caroline I know and love," Rebekah exclaimed. Caroline sputtered in the mess of Rebekah's blonde hair. She remembered those words differently. "How glad am I that I didn't let you die when Silas had you in his thrall. You wouldn't have had the pleasure of saving me otherwise."

Caroline chuckled gently and returned the hug. "You're welcome, Rebekah."

"Well," Rebekah pulled away, "now that we know you are up and about, where is dear old Nik?"

"Dead asleep," Caroline answered. With several pairs of eyes on her, Caroline added, "He's been through a lot."

"That's strange. He's almost always the first to rise." Caroline turned to the younger Mikaelson man still seated at the table. A wave of guilt crashed over her. "Forget about it," he offered magnanimously. "As you can see, I am back safe and sound, and so is Nik, thanks to whatever magic you and the werewolf queen managed to get your hands on. I say, we have restored the balance."

It was a little too easy, a little too odd. Kol Mikaelson's words were generous, his smile open. Yet his eyes seemed to know too much that did not touch his tongue, like he was referencing her image even as he searched libraries in his head.

And then her eyes landed on the other blonde woman in the room. She picked up the plates to clear a place for Caroline at the table. The woman placed the plates in the sink, then wiped her hands on the hanging tea napkin.

"Freya Mikaelson," the woman said, introducing herself. "I have heard very little and too much about you, if you could believe that."

Caroline shook the proffered hand. "Caroline Forbes. And I have heard absolutely nothing about you," she returned apologetically.

"Well then, it's our chance to meet without preconceived notions about each other. What a welcome start that is." Freya's warm smile faded, and she drew her hand back from Caroline. Her brows furrowed in consideration. She turned her head. "Elijah, would you kindly rouse our brother?" Elijah straightened from his place. Freya added, "He may need you."

"Please," Caroline said, motioning for Elijah to sit. "I can go. I'm the closest."

And then before she could blink, Elijah's dapper form appeared one step beside her, taking away her stated advantage.

Freya nodded to Elijah, and the dark-haired Original continued on the way from which Caroline came. And so Caroline was seated at the table, ignoring the odor that emanated from the food on the stove while watching the uncoordinated movement in the kitchen, clearly showing that Freya was the only one who actually seemed to be aware of the sequence on mundane breakfast chores. Something had made her upbringing completely different from the rest of the siblings, and if Freya's promise held true, Caroline was going to have the chance to learn more about this Mikaelson very soon.

Freya handed a plate to Rebekah, who made her way to Caroline with a grin.

Bile rose to the back of Caroline's throat. Abruptly, she stood up and knocked the chair backwards until it toppled over to the floor. Kol flashed in front of a door and pushed it open. A guest bathroom, she realized. Caroline slammed the door shut behind her and bent over the sink, heaving dryly because of her empty stomach. She retched violently, the hair on her arms standing as the cold sweat enveloped her. She did not doubt that the disgusting noise reached them out there. The bathroom was not far enough and they were who they were. Caroline retched until she could feel most of the acidic saliva that nauseated her had been expelled. Her hands trembled as she cupped some water into her mouth to gargle and spit out.

When Caroline returned to the kitchen, Kol had cleared out or been cleared out by his sisters. Rebekah handed her a glass of blood and Freya had set aside the human breakfast she prepared. Hopefully someone could still consume it. Caroline hated the thought of food waste.

She swallowed the red liquid gratefully, finding it calmed her lurching stomach. She tasted the hint of something spicy, and whatever it was relieved the symptoms well.

"Mixed in a bit of ginger root tea," Freya told her. "I can attest to it. It works wonders." Caroline sighed.

She needed to speak with him. Now. There was no way she could keep this secret anymore.

While waiting for Klaus, Caroline made her way out into the front yard. She could hear them in the distance. Hayley lost some of the edge in her voice when she spoke about her daughter. Watching them this way, in their morning sun time that Hayley only missed when she had to be away looking for the rest of the ingredients to complete their quest, Caroline was glad that they succeeded in bringing back the family. For Hope, Hayley had told Caroline.

Hayley looked up to where Caroline stood watching the two, then waved her offer with a welcoming smile.

Part of the pack. Part of the family.

Caroline's hand involuntarily rested on her stomach for a fleeting touch, then she fisted her hand and dropped it to her side.

She saw Elijah walk over and kneel on the carpet covering the grass beside his niece. Hayley turned to him and leaned forward with a kiss on his lips.

"Would you look at that?" Caroline breathed in deeply when he stopped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned back on his chest like it was home. His hold tightened. "My big brother and my ex-one night stand together with my daughter," he said, without a trace of regret or longing.

Caroline turned her head to look back at him. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Hello, love," was his return.

There was a pause. Caroline's eyes fluttered and she looked at his lips, with their playful curve and soft fullness. Klaus's lips met hers in the slowest, most tender, most languorous kiss. A morning kiss, she thought. Uncomplicated and devoted, the way she had not once been in their shared moments. She almost groaned in protest when they parted.

"I know you want that explanation," she reminded him.

"In due time, love. I haven't forgotten." Klaus nodded towards the picnic blanket, where Hope sat playing with her colorful toys. Elijah and Hayley had stepped away to speak few steps from the girl. Caroline remembered that Klaus had been away for far too long, suffering through the hell that Marcel had put him through, to keep Hope and his siblings safe. "Right now, what I want to do is watch my daughter for a few minutes."

The minutes turned into an hour. When the sun grew sharper, Hayley picked up Hope and made their way back inside the house. Behind them, Elijah bent to pick up the blanket and the few toys left behind. Caroline took his hand as they walked across the large yard, the wide open space the only place they could find privacy in a farmhouse full of Mikaelsons.

Caroline turned to face him, nervously biting her lower lip. "I don't know where to start."

His gaze was somber, encouraging. "You were in trouble," he prompted, taking her hands. "So you got in your car and drove."

She nodded. "This is the most serious problem I've faced in my life, Klaus. I was surrounded by other supernatural beings, but when I was in danger, real danger, the only thought I had was you." She felt his grip on her hands tighten. Caroline swallowed. "I've been a trouble magnet my whole life, but this is the peak—the climax—the zenith—"

His lips curved, "Are you telling me the story or are you drilling me for SATs?"

Caroline squeezed her eyes tightly shut and bit back a laugh. "I am trying to be serious."

"Alright, love." The small smile did not leave his face. "You can tell me anything. My regard for you hasn't faded despite the multiple attempts on my life, nor the verbal abuse I have suffered through the years. Try me."

Just be done with it.

"I'm pregnant." She paused, watching for his reaction. His expression did not change. "Klaus, I'm carrying the last pair of Gemini twins. There are covens coming after them. They said the babies are an abomination. How can babies be an abomination?" And once she finally started, the words came spilling out. "All these witches after me have hurt my friends; they've infiltrated my dreams." Her voice hitched into a sob. "And oh God, what Kai did to Jo. And then they spelled the babies into me!"

"Caroline," he said her name, like amber honey, soothing and calming. She took a deep breath, then looked at him with teary eyes. "Do you want them?"

The question took her aback. "I—" Caroline thought hard. "Their mom is dead. Their—"

He released one of her hands, then took a glass vial of deep red liquid from his pocket. He presented it to her on his open palm. The container looked like one from a smaller set of where Freya had stored her ginger root, so Caroline recognized it as a natural remedy spelled for enhancement.

"Don't think of anyone else. For just this moment, think of you. Do you want the babies, Caroline? Because I can give you this choice." Her heart raced.

Her choice, when everyone else in her life had always made the choice for her. And like the good girl, she had followed.

Damon took away her choice when he compelled her. Tyler took away her choice when he left. Stefan took away her choice when he fled.

Her best friends always handed her a role to schemes that they had already decided.

And then here he was, the great evil, the one that everyone always told her was villain. He had always just extended a hand and waited for her to take it. He had asked her what she wanted. He tempted her, always did, but he had wanted her to choose the life he offered.

The red liquid in that vial was a choice.

"I know this was not part of the future you planned. You wanted college, to date boys, to have fun." Why was his voice impossibly gentle for what he was suggesting? "That a powerful coven hijacked your body and forced your hand to continue their legacy doesn't mean I will let them take your choice away."

Her eyes were drowning, and it was not fair that he was her only breath of air. "Wait—you had this—how did you know?"

"Last night, when you fell asleep, I asked Freya to prepare it for contingency." With his other hand, Klaus reached for hair that had fallen over her face, then tucked it behind her ear. "Just because I only had you once doesn't mean I don't have the feel of your body imprinted in my brain. I know how you feel, I know the sound of your heartbeat, my hands memorized every curve." Caroline drew closer to him, a tingling in her body starting low in her center. "I could tell something changed. And then I heard them."

Heartbeats.

Caroline slowly nodded. College, boys, playing around. She had kept her vision of the future low stakes and simple, because she was keenly aware of the impossible.

But this was a miracle. They were a miracle. Did she want to keep this miracle?

"I think I do."

~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Klaus considered her words.

"Alright, love," he said quietly. His hand closed over the glass vial, crushing the liquid in his fist. He opened his hand to see the destroyed concoction and the bloody cuts. Caroline gasped, then picked off the shards of glass, grateful when the skin stitched together quickly to heal him. He drew her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Then we'll take care of it, sweetheart. I swear to you, no harm will come to you."

Her fingers grasped at his shirt and her sob caught in her throat. "I didn't know—I didn't know about Hope, about how bad this war is that you're fighting. I didn't mean to bring down more trouble. I was just scared." Caroline buried her face in his chest. "I was so scared, and I know deep down you're my only fighting chance, Klaus."

Klaus wrapped his arms around her as they stood under the sun. He was well aware of his siblings' observant eyes, peering curiously at them from their places in the house. If he were to commit to this for Caroline, there would be three innocent souls that would need the full force of his power—his family—to have a chance. Better for them to see, to recognize what he had not shared with them in words.

She had already shown them all, when she went into the abattoir and down the catacombs for him.

He would show them now and make clear to the Mikaelsons where she stood.

Marcel and New Orleans.

The Covens seeking the last Gemini.

He released her only so far as he could tip her face up to his.

"You always get into the most challenging supernatural problems, don't you, love? Caught up in the sun and moon curse." It was so long ago now it felt like a distant story. To think she was going to be a sacrifice to free his wolf. He did not know what offering he needed to show his gratitude that she had been spared that fate and survived to bring her light into his life. He wiped her tears away.

He already had Elijah in his corner, always and forever. Getting the hex siphoned out of Rebekah won them her loyalty.

Now to win Freya and Kol's support. Klaus was certain that Kol strained to eavesdrop, and prayed he would share with Freya.

"And now the twins inside you. You're going to need formidable witches in your corner. Lucky for us, we have two of the most talented ones in our midst."

Klaus led Caroline back towards the house. He could feel the utter relief, the shift in her posture between walking away and walking back. He never wanted to be the cause of so much tension, so much doubt in her. If he had to spend every waking moment not on the defensive for his family, he would spend them reassuring her of her right to be here.

He thanked whatever effort that he had invested in Mystic Falls, the clear, unabashed adoration that he showered her with. Without that courtship, who knew where she would have fled? Worse yet, she could have fallen prey to the power-hungry covens because she would know no other place to go.

Before she stepped onto the porch, he pulled gently at her hand so she would turn to him. "We're going to have everyone—everyone," he emphasized, "knocking down our doors, trying to bring down our walls."

"I know. And I'm so sorry."

He shook his head. "Let them all come. Don't ever think you're not where you are supposed to be, love. You came for protection, because these covens are threats to you and the twins. These babies are more powerful than any witch you've encountered. If what we know about how the entire coven bound their magic and their lives, Caroline, those twins have all the magic of all the dead Gemini bound to them, all inside you." He could see the terror constrict in her eyes. "I will stand in front of you, beside you, behind you. Nothing can touch you. Not while I'm alive. So, we will face it together. We'll have my family to help us. I already swore to you I will deliver on your hopefully not misguided faith in me."

"But I have more to offer you. This one only I can give you. And I've tried to tell you in so many ways. You just never believed me enough."

She stepped closer to him, then laid her palm over his heart. Caroline looked up at him through wet lashes. "What are you saying, Klaus?"

He could see it in the desperate need in her eyes. He could see it in the disbelief, the suspicion. "I'm going to be with you, Caroline, every step of the way, for every discomfort, and every pain, and every sickness."

And then she was crying, and he did not mean for her to cry. He had missed all of these with Hayley when she carried Hope, because he never found himself wanting to share those moments. It did not diminish his love for Hope, nor his respect for Hayley. But this was Caroline, and somehow it did not matter what magic was coiled inside of her. He would be there to share every milestone, warmed at the prospect of seeing her wax with the growth of those twins inside her, watch her body change, see every expression on her face when she discovered parts of herself that only motherhood unraveled.

By her side to guide her, to protect her wherever the threat was from.

He could see her holding her breath. "Sweetheart?"

"Stefan ran away when I told him. He was my best friend and he said he loved me, but he was gone within minutes."

The definition of love by a man who lived closer to almost two centuries compared to a man who had truly magnified what love meant for a millennium.

Klaus brought her hand to his lips. "I am not running away."

She dove in for a sweet, lingering kiss.

When they returned to the house, Elijah motioned for Klaus to speak. Hayley approached Caroline with Hope in her arms. Klaus released Caroline's hand, watching until she and Hayley disappeared into the kitchen to meet Rebekah.

"Does she know?" Freya asked, concern furrowing her brow. "Caroline's exposure to our world has been limited to that small town. I think everything still is a revelation to her, which is why she sought out our brother." She touched her hand involuntarily. "I don't think she realizes that it's happening. When we touched at the kitchen, I felt the friction and the pressure of the power being siphoned from me, but Caroline did not even blink."

Begrudgingly, Klaus was impressed at the abilities of those twins in utero, if they could recognize Freya's ancient magic so early, and even more powerfully that they could draw from her so young. Freya must have been rattled enough to send Elijah for him.

"Caroline sought me out because she feels safe with me, and with good reason," Klaus claimed proudly. "I'd sooner breathe white oak ash than endanger her."

"As much as this connection has come out of the blue, Niklaus, Freya and I would like to first focus on the fact that you are the one in danger here." Elijah turned to his sister. "To your question, dear sister, does Caroline know that the witches in her belly are siphoning off Klaus' powers while they're asleep, rendering our brother nearly comatose this morning? No, I would think not."

"I fear they will continue to seek out Niklaus because of his power. Siphon witches will always tend to gravitate to the source that they can siphon the most." Freya paced in front of the brothers, clutching the talisman on her necklace. "If she were to stay, we need to do something."

"There is no if, Freya."

Freya glared at Klaus in exasperation. Never had he felt more like a little boy. "I like her, Niklaus. I would not toss her out blindly. But I did not look for you for a thousand years only to see you shriveled dry and siphoned out by fetuses!"

"Besides, you are still the one most physically powerful, Klaus. We cannot have you weakened or below your full potential on the day they come."

That peaked Klaus' attention. He had only sworn to her that he would fight any threat to her. How could he if what had happened last night recurred?

Elijah rubbed his chin in consideration. "Keep them apart," he exclaimed. "The farmhouse is too small to house all of us. She stays with me and Hayley, either you or Kol so we have someone knowledgeable in witchcraft as well. Klaus can go with Rebekah and the other witchcraft-inclined sibling."

"I am not breaking a promise I have only just made, Elijah."

"She needs an object."

The elder Mikaelsons turned to the doorway, finding Kol leaning against the frame with his arms across his chest and his legs cross at the ankle.

Kol shook his head. "I cannot believe you are all talking siphon defense and witchcraft without me, when I am the single most knowledgeable sibling in that regard."

"Speak," Elijah allowed.

"Tasty little Caroline Forbes needs a talisman, an amulet, anything that can hold siphoned energy." Klaus growled low at the adjectives that he vigorously opposed being used on Caroline. After they learned what they needed from Kol, he would wring his throat. "It needs to be a powerful one, because from the sounds of your meaty little conversation—and your arguments echo in a household of vampires—if they are sucking up enough of our dear hybrid brother's energy to knock him out all morning, then those greedy little suckers—pardon the pun—are quite demanding little witches. And since Caroline cannot seem to control when or how much the twins siphon, you want a crystal that can redirect and store the energy so you can keep her body from overloading, and the twins can have a steady source of energy to draw from and not constantly siphon from the most powerful supernatural in the room."

Hope.

Elijah must have had the same thought. Klaus flashed to the small playroom, Elijah following not far behind. Elijah sighed in relief when he saw Hayley reading a naptime story to her daughter. Klaus sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over his daughter, placing a kiss on her forehead.

When his daughter fell asleep, Klaus stood and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Where's Rebekah?" Klaus demanded of his three siblings standing around him.

"All three of us were with you, Niklaus. We can search the house for her and Miss Forbes."

"I don't hear them. They are nowhere near."

tbc