I uploaded this chapter a month ago, but I forgot to post it. So sorry. Thank you to the readers who have kept it alive so long! I hope you like this wrap up. It makes this story shorter than the others, but it doesn't have many readers. I have a lot of stories I'm working on, but I do ADORE this series. If you found it and read it to this final conclusion, I think you'll be pleased.

Chapter 10: Family Forever

*****A Few Hours Later*****

Because she was going into labor, they couldn't have Illyria open a portal to Mystic Falls for her doctor. Instead, Angel called Willow, explaining that her presence was needed.

She came, bringing her lover, who was very excited to witness her niece being born. Meredith was also with them.

Because of Illyria's physical changes when she took over Fred's body, the baby was born through a cesarian, which is why the doctor had to be there. Willow used her powers to make sure there was no extra bleeding that would endanger the mothers. Also, she sped up the internal healing of the surgery as Illyria was very angry at the pain the birth was causing her.

Outside, however, they came under attack.

"What's going on?" Xander asked one of his slayers.

"There's several covens outside. One seems to want to worship the new baby while the other three want the abomination to be destroyed," she replied.

Xander told her to get Kitty and the others. "Do we have any witches here?" he asked.

"My sister has arrived with Willow," Elijah reminded him.

"Oh, yeah," Xander said, looking sheepish. "I keep forgetting she's now human."

"Vampire or human, Rebekah is a force to be reckoned with," Elijah said. "Not to mention, 'Willow has taught her much."

"We don't need to pull Willow away from the baby, so just ask Rebekah to come outside," Xander said. Elijah agreed.

They went outside, and the fight was on. Xander didn't like killing humans and moved to knock out whoever he saw. Then one of the witches threw an aneurysm at him, and he fell to his knees, a sharp cry coming out at the agonizing pain.

Elijah, never far from his side, heard his cry and realized immediately what was going on. Then he ran to the witch who had eyes on locked on Xander. Quickly, he broke the witch's neck.

Xander looked up in relief. "Thanks! That was horrible. What did she do to me?" he asked.

"The witches love to cause brain bleeds in vampires," Elijah explained.

"That's messed up!" he said. "But then again, if I was them and facing superpowered vampires, I might do the same thing."

Elijah smiled. His lover's empathy was one of the things he loved about him. "Let's end this," he said.

"How about we not kill all of them? They are human," Xander said.

"Would you like them to catch our niece playing at the park and give her one of those brain bleeds from a distance?" Elijah asked pointedly.

Xander grimaced at the thought. "Fine. Do what you have to do," he said. However, he didn't help.

It didn't take Elijah long to end the witch threat.

Two slayers, Kitty and Chloe, looked at the bodies. "I don't think Buffy or Willow would like this," Kitty said.

"Fortunately, I don't answer to either one of them," Elijah said coolly.

"Yeah, but we do," Kitty replied.

"It's not like you ladies can stop Elijah from doing what he deems best for his family," Xander told him. "Let's get them together and have Rebekah use some witch fire to burn the bodies."

They were just finishing up when Trisha, Fred's mother, came to the front door.

"I don't know why ya'll are having a bonfire, but I wanted to tell you that my granddaughter is born, and the mothers are doing fine," Trisha announced.

The slayers cheered.

"Can we see them?" Elijah asked.

"Family only as Illyria isn't doing very well," Trisha said.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"She didn't take the childbirth very well," Trisha said. "We couldn't get any meds to work on her body."

"So she felt every cut?" Rebekah asked.

Trisha nodded. "Yes, she's very angry with Klaus right now," she said, grinning. "I wanted to kill Roger during my pregnancy."

"Is Roger on his way?" Xander asked.

She nodded. "I called as soon as the labor started. He should be here in two hours or so," she said.

They made it to the room, and it was Fred holding the baby. Klaus was on the bed next to her staring down in awe at his miracle.

"She's got dark hair like her momma," Rebekah commented as she reached for Willow's head. There was a short layer of dark hair on her head.

Meredith, the doctor said, "Her eyes are like her daddy's, but baby's eyes can change."

"Do you want to hold your baby?" Fred said to Klaus.

Klaus carefully took her from Fred's arms, unable to believe it was real. He was a father.

"She's so perfect. How can she be mine?" he murmured.

"She was fated," Willow told them. "Klaus was meant to have a child that would combine three bloodlines. If it wasn't Illyria, it would have been a werewolf."

"Really?" Elijah asked. "How do you know that?"

"Sometimes when I look at a person, Mother tells me things," Willow shared with a shrug. She was in Druid from, so no one questioned it.

"Mother as in Mother Earth?" Xander asked.

She nodded. "Yes," she said, gazing down at the baby. "Little Cordelia Hope will be very powerful."

"For the sake of my sanity, let's stick to calling her Hope," Xander said. "I'm sure Cordy is looking down and laughing at us."

"I hope so," Fred said, smiling. "She was the closest thing I ever had to a sister, and she had the biggest heart."

"I didn't know that version of her," Xander said. "But I knew the potential was there."

There was a knock on the door. They turned to see who it was.

Fred grinned proudly at Angel and Spike. "She's here," she announced.

Both vampires crowded around the father holding the newborn.

"She's so tiny," Angel said.

"She's perfect," Spike said, grabbing a little hand.

The baby opened her eyes and stared up at the two vampires.

Then she smiled.

"Look at that! She likes me!" Spike announced.

"It's me she's smiling at. She likes me!" Angel announced.

"Whatever," Spike said with a snort.

"If you are going to start that, you can leave," Klaus said, glaring at the two.

Fred laughed, enjoying the moment.

Willow pulled out her cell phone and began snapping pictures for Buffy.

When Roger finally arrived, Fred's happiness was complete.

*****A Month Later*****

Buffy was finally able to bring her son to Los Angeles to meet Fred's baby. Little Alex was grinning, happy to be carried some place by this mother. A few months old, he was a very active and energetic baby. Every day with her son was pure joy for Buffy. Because Mystic Falls wasn't that big, she could take him to work when she started back next week. Liz wanted her to run for Sheriff in the fall, and Buffy was seriously considering it. The secretary that worked the phones in the office said she would be happy to watch Alex when Buffy was out on a call.

They were all coming to Los Angeles and visiting colleges with Dawn, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie over a four-day weekend that the girls had due to snow days the school never used. They would graduate in a few weeks, and only Bonnie and Elena knew where they wanted to go. Both Dawn and Caroline were accepted into UCLA in Los Angeles and Stanford in the San Francisco Bay area. Elena had already told UCLA she was attending in the fall since Damon was there. Stanford, which was closer to San Francisco than Los Angeles, was where she planned to go for medical school. She figured Damon would be ready to leave the L.A. area by then.

If she was going to stay in California, Buffy hoped Dawn would choose UCLA as she would be close to Xander and Illyria, who could bring her home for free whenever Dawn wanted to go. Of course, she did get accepted into Whitmore College, where Bonnie was going. It wasn't too far in McKinley, Virginia. Buffy, though, didn't want to get her hopes up that she would stay so close. Dawn said she might, but she wanted to see UCLA before making a final decision.

"I'm glad you're coming with us, Bon," Caroline said since she was going to attend where Willow said her soulmate would be found in college back east.

"Just because I don't plan on going to these schools, doesn't mean I am not curious about them. Also, I have never been to San Francisco," Bonnie pointed out.

Caroline didn't like to think about having any experience without Bonnie, who she had always been slightly closer to than Elena. At least, Illyria would be close and allow for ease of traveling home.

Willow had opened the portal outside the Xander and Elijah's mansion where all the slayers lived.

Rebekah went to Los Angeles every weekend to spend time with the baby, and she, too, was at Willow's side. Willow often came with her to spend time with Xander, who loved getting to see her as being away from her was difficult. Xander considered her home more than he ever did his parents.

Sometimes, Fred missed her apartment as she craved more alone time with her baby. Sure, it was great to have so many that wanted to help her and love on her baby. However, a part of her wished she and Klaus could be somewhere with just them and their baby. She was a bit tired of having to always share her baby with so many people.

Klaus came into the nursery as she fed her baby formula. It hurt her that she could not nurse her baby, but Illyria had changed her body too much.

I am sorry Illyria told her.

"It's not your fault," she said aloud.

"What's not my fault?" Klaus asked, looking up from his daughter. He was so infatuated with her.

"Nothing. I was talking to Ria. She was apologizing that I can't breast feed," Fred shared.

"Oh. I guess that we are fortunate to live in a time where that's okay not to," Klaus said. "Back many centuries ago, if a mother couldn't or didn't want to breast feed, they had to find a wet nurse to do it, another woman who just had a baby herself. She would be paid to nurse the other baby, too."

"That is very disturbing," Fred said, shuddering. "I am very glad that we don't have to do that."

Klaus reached into his pocket and pulled out the little kitten bottle they had gotten just for Hope's blood feeding. Willow had warned them that Hope would need blood every few days. Not much but some as she was a bit like Klaus.

Fred allowed Klaus to feed her then even though she didn't seem squeamish about it. Klaus was very grateful that her experiences in Pylea and time with Angel had prepared her for such unusual things.

"Is it time for her iron supplement already?" Fred asked. That was what she called her baby's blood bottle.

"It is," he said. "Also, I heard Xander call out Willow, so I think our guests are here."

"Do you ever wish it was just the two of us with her?" Fred asked.

Klaus smiled as she handed him the baby. "I do. Frequently," he said. "Maybe after everyone leaves, we can take a few weeks and go to our country home."

Klaus nodded as he watched Hope suck down the blood as eagerly as she did her formula. Even for him, it seemed strange. He smiled. His daughter was a unique and singular creature. "It's outside the city of New Orleans and smaller than this one or the one in New Orleans."

"I've never been to New Orleans," she said.

"It will be hard to be alone, though, as Kol will crash," he admitted. "Maybe we should get a hotel at Catalina Island."

"Oh, that would be wonderful," Fred said, smiling at him. He was so attentive and so good with Hope. It was hard for her not to fall in love with him. They weren't a couple, but they were a unit, working together for Hope.

Fred hoped that was enough.

*****A Few Hours Later*****

Buffy was embraced by Xander, who immediately took little Alex from her, overjoyed to see who he considered his nephew and namesake. The slayers, then, surrounded them, hugging Buffy and gushing over the baby. Instead of being frightened by all the strangers, Alex smiled and waved his little hand.

Eventually, Buffy had to feed him and put him down for his nap. Then she finally went to visit Fred.

"Hope is so pretty," Buffy said, looking at the baby in Fred's arms.

"Would you like to hold her?" Fred asked.

Buffy nodded and reached for the baby. "I'm glad there's someone else I know with a baby," Buffy said.

"Your town is a bit small," Fred said. "Here in L.A. there's lots of Mommy and me classes. I'm thinking about signing Hope up for the one at the YMCA, so she can learn to swim by the time she's walking."

"That would be fun," Buffy said. "I love my little Alex, and I was a bit relieved that he was a boy."

"Are you afraid a daughter of yours would be called?" Fred asked.

Buffy nodded. "Yes," she admitted. "What about you? How are you and Klaus getting along as co-parents?"

"He has been wonderful," Fred shared, smiling. "Attentive and willing to do anything—even change diapers. Hope already adores her daddy."

"How about Illyria? Does she interact with the baby?" Buffy wondered, looking down.

"Yes, I make her because I don't want Hope to be frightened of her," Fred told her.

"How does she react?" Buffy asked.

"She seems fascinated by the colors on Illyria. I bet she's going to be an artist like her daddy," Fred said.

Willow finally joined them. "Alex is still sleeping—much to Xander's disappointment," Willow shared.

She was in her druid form; a form she reverted to when not around the citizens of Mystic Falls.

"Fred was telling me that Hope seems to like Illyria and that Klaus is a good daddy, sharing baby duties like Rick does with me," Buffy summarized.

Willow smiled. "I knew he would be. His dual nature will always be a struggle, but this development feeds the family and artist side of him," she commented. "Any smooches between you yet?"

Fred's eyes widened. "Oh, Klaus doesn't see me that way. He's still stuck on Caroline," she said. "If Caroline goes to school here, I bet they'll get back together. It was nice of him to pause their relationship while I was pregnant. I couldn't ask for more."

"I love Caroline," Buffy said. "She's great. But don't cut yourself so short. You are older and more experienced. You've had relationships with men, not the boys she has. You're Klaus' equal—if not superior—intellectually, and you share a child. I just don't see how Caroline can really compete."

"He likes loyalty, and Caroline befriended him when she shouldn't have," Willow explained. "Fred is loyal to Angel."

"Angel saved me from a hell dimension, gave me a home and family," Fred said. "He's my brother and best friend—the best man I have ever known."

Buffy smiled, secretly pleased that someone else saw the man she saw in Angel. "I loved him more than anything once upon a time, so I know his appeal," Buffy said. "It's why I think you are a great judge of character and don't be surprised if you and Klaus find yourselves growing closer."

Fred decided that she would give Buffy's words some consideration. After all, the world was always a surprise considering she had actually died and came back to life and basically been to hell and back.

*****The Next Day*****

Elena was basking in the arms of her lover, thrilled to be back with Damon. She refused to let him keep them apart anymore and spent the evening seducing him.

Damon was happy to have her in his arms and relieved she was going to go to school on the west coast.

"You know, this is going to make the next several months harder," he pointed out, hugging her close.

"No. I asked Angel if he could use a secretary here since Fred's not working anymore, and he said definitely," Elena told him, sitting up. "Katherine is too much of a flake to be counted on. She'll ignore the phone if she's filing her nails or not in the mood."

"You think you can deal with seeing your doppelganger daily?" Damon said. "I'm used to ignoring her, and for some reason, she doesn't seem bored with Spike yet."

"How could she be? He's funny, treats her well, and doesn't love her enough for her to manipulate him like she has all other guys," Elena said with a smirk.

Damon laughed. "I think that's his appeal. Katherine believes that one day, he'll love her more than Buffy," Damon said.

"Do you think he will?" Elena asked.

Damon shrugged. "Hard to say since he spent two centuries or so loving that nut job Drusilla," Damon said. "He doesn't have the best taste in women, but he recognizes that Katherine is a narcissist and isn't turned off by it. So he's going into things with his eyes wide open. Katherine loves how he treats her with respect and demands everyone else does too. He and I have come to blows over her or rather my calling her an evil, soul-sucking bitch."

Elena laughed. "I guess I can just think of her as my crazy great aunt or something," Elena said. "She is my ancestor, after all."

"True. She's a survivor, and Spike is a very formidable vampire, not easily manipulated," Damon said.

"I graduate in less than two months," she said. "I'll miss little Alex. It's great having a baby in my life, but Dawn is thinking of moving here, too. Then I'd see him more."

"She isn't really," Damon said. "She'll go to school with Bonnie because Matt is going to be a deputy with Buffy. He can't join the police department here unless he's twenty."

"Okay, so maybe I'm reaching a bit, but Caroline will be going here," Elena said.

"Do you think she's going to get back together with Klaus?" he asked.

Elena shrugged. "I don't know. I know he really hurt her, but she's a vampire. They have many years to live and work that out," she said.

The man in question was watching Dawn and Caroline at breakfast. They had stayed the night, sleeping in the slayer wing of the mansion. Klaus was happy to see her, finding her as beautiful as ever. Did he want to get back together with her? Should he try to seduce her while she was here?

He was contemplating just that when his brother, Elijah, sat down next to him.

"Careful, brother," Elijah said. "Caroline is a lovely lady, but she cannot hold a candle to the mother of Hope."

Klaus frowned and turned to look at him. "Why do you say that? She's intelligent, loyal, smart, and beautiful," he pointed out.

"She has never known real suffering; Fred has. She will never really challenge you intellectually; Fred will. She will never love Hope as Illyria will never allow her near your daughter," Elijah pointed out. "Not to mention, Fred has never for one moment looked at you like you were less than. Caroline's friends will always have influence over her. I have never met anyone less judgmental that Winifred Burkle."

Klaus smiled, thinking of his brother's points. All were true. Could Caroline truly hold a candle to Fred, who was a wonderful mother and friend to everyone who knew her? She made Klaus laugh almost daily; something only Kol had ever accomplished. Her mind worked on a level that he had never encountered in a female. Illyria was much more ancient than Klaus and insisted Fred was the greatest of all humans. The way she handled Illyria was most impressive.

Soon, though, he was in front of Caroline.

"How are you?" he asked.

Caroline smiled. "Good. Excited to be done with high school and moving on to the next chapter of my life," she shared.

"I can imagine," he said. "Where do you think you'll go?"

"We're going to look at UCLA, USC, and Stanford," she said. "Elena is hoping for Stanford for medical school, so she's leaning toward UCLA."

"What about you?" he asked.

"Well, Stanford is in a more beautiful part of the state, but USC has the better journalism program," she said.

"That's here in Los Angeles?" he asked.

Caroline nodded. "But don't think you have anything to do with my decision!" she said.

"I wouldn't dare," Klaus said with a smile.

"I understand what your priorities are and what they should be," she said. "I'm focused on the next chapter of my life, and I don't need to be saddled down with a man that has a baby and a baby momma—or rather two baby mommas!"

Klaus nodded. "I get it. We are in different places in our lives," he said. "I do care for you still, but I am not prepared to cause Illyria any upset."

"What about Fred? She's pretty great from what I hear," Caroline remarked.

"That's true," he said, a smile on his face. There was a look in his eyes she had never seen before. "Fred is an unexpected delight and easy to like. She is a wonderful mother with parents who are devoted to her and Hope."

"I saw Hope. She's beautiful," Caroline said. Dawn had taken pictures of the two babies together, and that's how Caroline had seen her as she felt strange approaching Fred. However, she knew that she would need to before she left if she wanted to ask Illyria to take her home at times.

"She is perfect. Every day I see some new development in her even though her scientific mother will argue about that," Klaus said.

Caroline laughed. Being with him didn't really hurt like she thought it would. It was like talking with an old friend.

Things were going to be okay.

When Caroline and her friends drove up to Stanford with Damon, Angel had arranged for Connor to meet them and show them around. Even though he knew who he really was, he stayed in the life mystically created for him as his parents didn't know they weren't his real parents. They loved him, and he had a sister who did, too.

"Thanks for doing this," Damon said, shaking his hands. "Guys, do you remember, Angel's son from the New Year's Eve party? This is Connor Angel."

"It's actually Connor Reilly," Connor corrected. "I have two sets of memories, and I know that Angel is my real dad. But having the memory of growing up in a real hell dimension isn't something I like to remember nor all the other awful things that happened once I got back here. My fake family doesn't know they're fake, and they love me."

"That's got to be challenging," Elena said,

Connor shrugged. "Not really. I just don't think about Angel much when I am with them or here. I'm focused on my future," he said.

"That's healthy," Caroline said. "I'm Caroline in case you forgot. This is Bonnie. I don't think you talked to her at the party."

"It's good to see you again, Connor," Dawn said. "You know, you don't look much like Angel."

Connor smiled. "Angel says that I look like my mom," he said.

"I never met her," Dawn said. "I have a mystical origin story, too."

They two chatted while they walked around campus. Caroline moved to his other side, having questions about Stanford. Bonnie walked behind them with Elena and Damon.

"It's a beautiful campus," Caroline said.

"It is, but it's not the funnest. People here are very focused on learning," Connor said.

"I'm thinking also about USC and UCLA. Elena's going to UCLA," Caroline said.

"I got into UCLA," Dawn said. "But I don't think I'm going to move so far away from my boyfriend and new nephew."

"I was offered a track scholarship to USC, but my dad really wanted me to go to Stanford," Connor said.

"That's good," Dawn said. "Running, though, because you're half vamp seems like cheating."

"Don't I deserve some benefit of having the worst origin story?" Connor said.

"I don't know. Having two vampires as parents sounds kind of cool," Caroline said.

"My mother had to stake herself, so I could be born," he shared.

The girls grimaced. "Okay, I take it back," Dawn said.

The visit to Stanford was nice, and Caroline really liked talking with Connor. He wasn't at all like other guys. His experiences made him very different. Elena was excited for her future studies there. Connor took them to his favorite place for dinner, and they had a fun evening. However, Caroline had not been too impressed with the journalism department even though she liked Connor.

They said goodbye to Connor at the hotel Damon had reserved.

Elena just enjoyed spending so much time with Damon, but she was happy to go to UCLA the next day. The girls helped her decide which dorm they would like.

"What's with all the naked statues?" Bonnie wondered.

"It's art," Dawn said, snickering.

"It's weird. I would not like this school. My gram would not approve," she said.

"Giles would be weirded out, too, I think," Dawn agreed.

"I like it," Elena said. "It adds to the vibe."

"The we-like-naked-statues vibe," Caroline said, laughing.

"What's not to like?" Damon said with a smirk.

Naked statues aside, they enjoyed UCLA, but Caroline definitely preferred USC when they went there. The students were more relaxed and seemed to be enjoying themselves. The social scene was important to her, especially since she would be leaving her friends behind. The thought pained her, but she was looking forward to starting her life as an adult.

Buffy stayed the weekend. Dawn and the girls went to Lorne's club that night after visiting schools. Xander planned a nice family brunch with Buffy, Willow, Rebekah, Klaus, Elijah, and Fred. The babies ate earlier and stared at each other in their baby chairs that the moms put them in.

"It's so cute how they are looking at each other," Fred gushed.

"Alex can sense the power in our niece," Xander said, grinning. "Look at him smiling and waving at Hope!"

Buffy snapped pictures to show Rick. "They will be the best of friends," she said. "Hope will have her own Xander-shaped friend."

Xander laughed. "Don't you mean Alex-shaped?" he said.

Buffy nodded. "Of course," she said, flashing him a smile.

Fred felt very blessed even though she had once hoped her first child would belong to Wesley. Both Gunn and Wesley were gone; two men she had loved. Now she had this huge family of sorts. Although Angel and Spike weren't there eating with them, she knew they weren't far away.

Hope would grow up surrounded by strong role models and many who would love her.

She glanced at Klaus and felt her face grow warm. Would they ever be more than co-parents?

The next day, he told her he had booked a trip away to Catalina Island for the next five days.

Xander complained about not getting to see his nephew every day. Could he and Elijah go with them?

"No, you cannot. That's the point of our trip. We would like to spend uninterrupted time with our baby!" Klaus informed him.

"I don't get that. You're not a couple. Why do you need alone time?" Xander asked, stubbornly. Five days away seemed extreme to him. He never knew he would adore a baby so much. Buffy's baby Alex wasn't here daily, and Hope was. Xander adored the baby in a way he didn't realize he would.

"Because Hope is our baby girl, and we are tired of sharing her with everyone," Klaus said.

"We love how attentive you all are," Fred said quickly. "It's just we don't get much time just to be with her. She's growing so fast."

"We understand," Elijah said with an easy smile.

"I don't," Xander said, frowning. "She's so little she might forget us if we don't see her every day!"

Klaus was torn between annoyance and gratitude. Clearly, Xander loved his daughter as if she was his own flesh and blood. At the same time, Xander just wasn't getting the point.

"I think, Elijah, you might speak to Willow about giving Xander a baby sooner than later!" Klaus said, having heard about Willow's plan to use Xander's sperm if he were to be made human.

Xander's face brightened at that idea. "That's a good idea!" he announced. "I'll get right on that!"

Elijah glared at his brother, not yet ready for his mate to be made human, thus making him more vulnerable.

Klaus was happy, though, because his family would be his forever. Illyria was immortal, so Fred would be, too.

Life was good.

******One Year Later*****

Once the idea was put in Xander's mind, he wasted no time in talking to Willow about making a baby. Of course, he went one step further. He found a surrogate to carry his baby after Willow was pregnant.

"I want a baby for you and me that we don't have to share with anyone else," he told Elijah.

That was how he ended up with a biological son and daughter. Of course, the daughter was Willow's and would inherit her mother's power.

The surrogate met everyone at Stephen and Faith's wedding, which happened a month before Giles and Liz's June wedding. They kept the weirdness to a minimum.

Faith's twins were born a few months after her wedding, and then Buffy became pregnant again.

Dawn was ecstatic to have another nephew while Buffy began thinking a daughter might not be so bad. She and Buffy were thrilled when Giles became a father as Liz had her own baby.

It took a full year of school before Bonnie found Lorenzo St. John and uncovered the horror of the Augustines. Willow and Rebekah helped her defeat them. Lorenzo, called Enzo, fell in love with his savior, Bonnie.

After a battle with Angel's foes, Illyria was severely injured, causing Fred to disappear for months. Klaus was beside himself, realizing that he loved Fred.

Eventually, Willow was able to heal Illyria, and Fred was restored. Although Klaus never succeeded in getting Fred to promise to quit helping Angel, he was satisfied with beating Angel to a bloody pulp.

Fred scolded him severely when she found out.

*****Two Years Later*****

Hope was the flower girl at her parents' wedding. They moved out of the mansion to a much smaller mansion across the street.

Of course, Hope snuck into her cousins' room at night a few times a week the first year. Eventually, she became occupied when Fred and Klaus gave her a brother they adopted. He was barely walking when Illyria found his parents murdered by a demon Angel had a vision of. The poor baby had no other relatives, and DHS allowed Fred to foster him with her husband.

"I knew he was mine the moment I saw him," Fred told her husband.

Klaus could not deny his wife anything and gladly took the boy. The Mikaelson family was growing. Hope stopped sleeping in her cousins' room as she took the job of big sister very seriously.

A month later, Giles and Liz came to Mystic Falls to visit his slayer. Willow saw Liz and knew that something insidious was growing inside her.

Giles took his wife to the hospital the next day, discovering she had cancer.

Fortunately, they discovered it early enough to save her life.

****Three Years Later*****

Buffy finally had a daughter and declared it was time for Rick to get fixed.

"Three is enough!" she announced, her delight in parenthood complete. Now her slayer energy was used to sheriff her town and wrangle her three small children. Rick was now the principal of his high school.

Rebekah had her own baby with Marcel as the father, agreeing to live in New Orleans six months of every year until their son started kindergarten.

*****Four Years Later******

Rebekah and Willow relocated to Los Angeles to start a school for witches, werewolves, and humans who were in their group.

Rick had been considering running for mayor of Mystic Falls, but Willow wanted him to run their new school.

After Dawn and Bonnie graduated from college, Buffy knew she was ready to move to the west coast as she missed seeing Xander's son growing up. She wanted her children to be close to Xander's son, not just his daughter. Rick had to promise not to sell their house, so they could return during the summers.

"I want my children to know the joys of a small-town life," she said.

She had trained enough deputies that she knew the town could survive without her.

Matt proposed to Dawn, who agreed to marry him after she finished graduate school at Stanford.

Elena was happy to have a friend there.

Caroline and Connor had been dating for three years. His father became ill her freshman year at USC, so Connor had transferred to USC so that he could be back to help.

Angel finally asked Willow to tie his soul to him permanently as all his friends' joy made him realize that he wanted more from his life.

A year later, he walked Caroline down the aisle to marry his son. He had become very close to his future-daughter-in-law as she spent a lot of time at his work where Elena worked as part-time secretary while at UCLA. Caroline had promised her mother that she would become human by the time she was twenty-five and start a family with Connor.

Klaus toasted the couple at the wedding.

"How am I at this wedding?" he asked his wife. "I hate Angel, and I once loved the bride."

"Angel is my best friend, and you love Caroline now like a sister," Fred said, smiling at him.

"Oh, right," he agreed, leaning over to kiss his bride.

They had plenty of battles over the past five years as the slayers always attracted the demonic, and he had countless enemies. However, Illyria was never far from his side.

Together, they were unstoppable. Then his older sister Freya had been found alive, and they defeated their evil aunt, who had imprisoned her for ten centuries. Willow, Rebekah, and Kol had to work together to put her down when she captured Davina to draw them out.

His family had grown larger in size and power.

Their vows of always and forever never forgotten.

"Our family will live forever," he said to his wife.

"Our love with live forever," Fred countered. Klaus had been a complicated man the entire time she knew him. He still fought his dual nature and was often immature, yet she loved him through it all.

"I forgot to tell you," she said. "Ma and Daddy have decided to rent out the farm to others, and they are moving to Los Angeles. They don't want to be so far away from their grandchildren."

"Roger just wants to groom our son for a future as a dairy farmer," Klaus muttered, rolling his eyes. "Over my dead body."

Fred's eyes flashed fire as she let him know exactly why he was an ass.

Klaus smiled, his heart filled with love as her flushed cheeks made her even more attractive to him.

Deciding kissing her was more important than listening to her lecture, he stopped her tirade with his lips.

****The End*****

Well, that's a wrap. I hope you liked it enough to leave me one final review.