62Author's Note: Sorry about the wait, my loves! Thank you for all of your kind words, they really help inspire me to keep going, so thank you for taking the time to say it! I just love hearing from you guys. I'm having some mixed feelings about this chapter but I hope that you enjoy it anyway! Let me know what you think! Enjoy and stay safe out there! Keep healthy!
"Klaus? Klaus?" Caroline calls, marching down the stairs and heading into the sitting room to find the person that she was looking for, drinking bourbon and staring into the unlit fireplace as if lost in thought. "Klaus! Did you not hear me calling?"
"Caroline," Klaus says, taking a sip, "I think your friends in Mystic Falls heard you yelling."
"Well, why didn't you answer me?"
He downs the rest of his drink, setting the glass onto the mantle before turning around to look at her with a bland expression. "I've been busy thinking. What can I do for you, love?"
Caroline crosses her arms over her chest and leans on one hip. "What are you doing today?"
Klaus gives her a curious look, grabbing his empty glass and walking over to a table to fill it up with more bourbon. "Why so interested, Caroline?"
Caroline rolls her eyes. "Just tell me. Got any big plans for today?"
Klaus holds up his glass like a toast to her before downing it. Once he swallows, he says, "You're looking at it."
Caroline knew that she had him at that moment. She just needed to add the cherry on top. She needed to really get her hooks into him if she was going to get what she wanted. "Good, since you're not busy..." she licks her lips as Klaus lays down his glass and turns pretty blue eyes toward her, waiting for her to continue. "How about we go on a date tonight?"
Klaus blinks once slowly, like he wasn't sure he heard her right, then when her words process, he blinks rapidly like his brain was short-circuiting. The stoic, somewhat bitter look on his face melts away to honest surprise and intrigue. Red lips part, revealing he has drunk blood recently, as he stares at her, trying to understand what she said.
He taps the tips of his fingers on the hardwood table. "You want to go on a date with me?" He crosses his arms over his own chest, walking closer to her with the corners of his lips pressing tight and his lips pursing a bit. "Are you feeling well, love?"
"I'm fine, thank you very much," Caroline says, rolling her eyes again. "I just... can't stay in this house another second. It's been five days since we got the furniture in and while it was fun organizing and reorganizing all the rooms as well as everything in them multiple times, it's not fun anymore. I have nothing to do here, Klaus, I'm losing my mind. I have to get out of here. This place is a revolving door with all of you except for me. And, well, Hayley, but that's a different story. I can't be here anymore."
Klaus nods very slowly. "Ah, I understand now. You plan to use me to get what you want. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I see."
"Yeah," Caroline says playfully, seeing the grin working its way across his face. At least he isn't mad, she's happy about that. "I was thinking we could pretend to be back in Mystic Falls, where I need something from you so I shameless flirt and play hard to get and you pretend you don't know that I'm using you for my own gain."
Klaus offers her a closed-lipped smile, obviously amused. Whatever was bugging him before isn't anymore. He folds his hands behind his back, stepping closer to Caroline. "And what sort of date do you have in mind, love?"
Caroline smiles sheepishly at him. "To be honest, I didn't think I would make it this far. So I don't really have anything planned. I just need to get out of this house and away from these walls. I am at your mercy, Klaus Mikaelson, just please get me the heck out of here. I'll beg if I have to." Klaus grins wolfishly at her, honestly enjoying this torture. "Come on, Klaus. Please?"
He looks up at the ceiling for a moment, much more amused than Caroline thinks is necessary, before lowering his eyes back to her. "Caroline?"
"Klaus?"
"Would you like a night on the town?"
Caroline lets out a sigh of relief. "Yes, thank god. I was afraid I was going to have to spend another day in here cursing your name."
Klaus laughs. "Cursing my name, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't catch fire. I came up with some good ones."
"You'll have to let me hear them some time," Klaus says, still amused.
Caroline rolls her eyes. "Trust me, knowing both our personalities, you'll hear them soon enough."
Klaus laughs, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "I have to say, though. You didn't last nearly as long as I thought you would."
Caroline snorts derisively, eyes hurting from the number of times she's rolled them in the last couple of minutes. "Don't even act coy, Klaus, you knew I was a neurotic, task-oriented drama queen when you knocked me up." Klaus gives her a contemplative, high-browed look, pursing his lips.
"I suppose you have a point," Klaus admits, which somehow doesn't make Caroline necessarily feel better, but she was the one that decided to use that against him, so she can't be mad if he agrees with her.
"Anyway," Caroline says dryly, shooting Klaus an annoyed look, which he smiles back at her for, "and it's perfect because Bonnie called to tell me that she finished whatever it was she was working on with Stefan these last few days I was on lockdown."
"Oh?" Klaus says, mildly interested. "And what has our illustrious witch been up to, pre tell?"
"She's been kidnapping Stefan every day so he can drive her out of New Orleans so that she can practice magic until we know for sure if she can safely perform it without alerting Marcel's witch of her presence. I'm not sure what it is, other than it's for me, and she didn't really want me leaving the house until I had it. And since she's done, I'm free," Caroline says, grinning wildly. She was so ready to get out of the house for a few hours. Being trapped in this house with nothing to do is literally Caroline's greatest nightmare.
"Well, now I'm interested," Klaus admits, looking up over her head.
"I want to go dancing," Caroline blurts out, drawing Klaus's eyes back down at her. His eyebrows quirk in curiosity.
"Dancing?" He echoes.
"And singing," Caroline says. "Oh, and maybe a bit of site seeing. Bonnie and I sort of looked around a bit when we were out, but not much. And I love to sing, even if it's along with a D.J or a radio, and well, I want to go dancing while I can. Seeing as soon I'm going to be the size of a house, I want to be able to dance before I can't anymore."
"Are you sure that's not something you want to do with Bonnie?" Klaus asks. There is no judgment in his voice and he doesn't appear as though he doesn't want to go, it's just an honest question.
"Yes," Caroline admits. She'd probably have more fun doing something like that with Bonnie, but she knows that her friend is focusing on everything magic-wise and when she's in the zone like that she can't be interrupted. And plus, all this time organizing has given her a chance to really think about their future and the future of their baby.
"To be honest, Klaus, I want... to try," Caroline admits again, lowering her voice. "I don't know if you and I can date or be together or anything like that, but I'm too tired to ignore whatever it is between us. I want to start as friends. I know we skipped that when we conceived Jelly Bean, but because of our history, I never really gave us the chance to even try to be something more than enemies and sometimes allies but mostly acquaintances."
Klaus stares down into her eyes, red lips parting slightly as he absorbs the impact of her words. He licks his lips, eyebrows pulling together before asking, quietly, "You want to give us a shot?"
"I think so," Caroline says softly. "At least, I want Jelly Bean to have seen that we tried. That mommy and daddy aren't just two boats crossing in the night." Klaus gives her a look at that, but Caroline waves it away. "If it doesn't work out between us, at least Jelly Bean will know that we tried to see how far it could go. At least we will both know that we tried. Jelly Bean will know that even when you try your best and it doesn't work out that it's still okay. I think that's important."
"For our baby, we'll try," Klaus agrees, smiling softly. "Is it safe to assume that tonight is the trial run?"
"Make it or break it time," Caroline says in jest. It was so weird to talk about this, but Caroline was never really one for tact anyway. With her parents, the marriage didn't work out, but at least they tried. They made it work for many years together and then made it work when they split apart. She wants to be able to tell her son or daughter that at least she did try to make it work with their daddy.
And besides, she'd be lying if she said that there wasn't something between them. There has always been a subtle attraction between them... er, well, subtle on her part. Klaus has been anything but subtle in his interest in her but she knew she was starting to feel something. And it wasn't just about the night they slept together either. The night they slept together just proved to her that there was something already there to begin with.
"So..." Klaus says slowly. "Jelly Bean?"
"Our baby," Caroline says, touching her stomach.
"I got that, Caroline, I'm just curious about the name. Why Jelly Bean?" Klaus asks, smiling charmingly.
Caroline shrugs. "Well, at first I called it Baby. Then Spawn. Then Peanut and now Jelly Bean. And I actually really like the last one. Cute, isn't it? Our little Jelly Bean."
Klaus smiles softly, lacing his fingers together on his stomach. "Yes..." he says slowly. "Cute."
Caroline crosses her arms over her chest, feeling a chill from the brand new air conditioning Klaus had put in after the first night of Caroline, Hayley and Bonnie all bitching about how hot it was while they were trying to sleep.
"So why are you in a bad mood?" Caroline asks.
Klaus gives her a look. "I'm not in a bad mood."
"You were when I came down here. What's wrong?"
Klaus lets out a sigh, turning around and walking into the kitchen. Caroline blinks a few times before following after him until he comes to the fridge, opening it up and leaning down to open a drawer filled with blood packs for Caroline and Stefan who don't drink from the vein as Klaus and Elijah do. He pulls one out, opening it up and turning to Caroline, holding it out for her.
Caroline glances over at the stove to see it's about one-thirty in the afternoon. Like clockwork. Every day, Klaus either calls to tell her or gets it for her himself at around one-thirty. Caroline knows she's not drinking enough blood, limiting to one blood bag a day, because she's afraid of what the blood is doing to their very human baby, but Klaus is insistent.
Normally, Caroline would be annoyed at being micromanaged like that, but this was different. She's always been reluctant. She just doesn't want anything to hurt her baby.
Caroline reaches out and takes it from him. "You'll listen to make sure the baby is alright?" Caroline asks softly.
"Blood is good for you," Klaus says for the hundredth time. "It's not going to hurt our baby." Caroline stares down at the blood and Klaus sighs. "I will listen and it'll be fine."
"Promise you'll listen?" Caroline asks, feeling the veins in her eyes pulsate. She's not drinking enough blood, she knows, but this is as much as she can bear without knowing for certain that it wasn't hurting her baby. She can feel her fangs threatening to press into her cheeks as the thought of blood makes her hungrier.
"Caroline," Klaus says slowly, stepping closer, placing his hand over her own, lifting it up so that it pushes the blood closer to her lips, "drink. I could listen to our baby's heart forever. Drink up, love. I'll listen."
So Caroline does. She drinks slowly, savoring the taste of blood on her tongue. Her eyes were closed but thankfully she didn't moan like she wanted to. That would have been terrible. She opens her eyes to see Klaus staring down at her with the softest expression, focusing on her stomach. She knew he wasn't paying attention to her when she stopped drinking to stare at him. His head is tilted slightly so that his right ear is pointed more toward her, doing just as she asked, listening to their baby's beating heart.
Caroline is envious, wishing that she could hear it, but when she tries to focus, all she can hear is her own heart beating. She finishes up her blood bag before asking, softly, "How is it? Baby's heartbeat?"
"Strong," Klaus says, pulling his eyes up to the blood bag to see that it's empty. He holds his hands out for the bag, which she passes over to him for him to dispose of.
While he's doing that, Caroline asks, "So what happened? Why were you upset earlier?"
"I finally spoke to Marcellus. Briefly." Klaus and Caroline stare at one another. "Don't look at me like that. I didn't do anything. Luckily, he was just as surprised to see me as I was to learn that he was alive." Klaus walks over to one of the counters, leaning back against it with his hands behind him and out to the sides. "There was a bit of posturing, but we ended on a... curious note."
"How so?"
Klaus presses his lips together for a moment, lowering his head to let it hand with his chin to his chest for a moment. "I used to run this city before Mikael. I built this city alongside my siblings. Elijah, Rebekah, and Kol..."
Caroline feels her heart sink, knowing that he must still be in pain. Caroline doesn't blame him at all. Caroline knew the pain of losing her family. Losing her dad was so unbelievably painful, just thinking about it now chokes her up. For a moment, a painful, seemingly unending moment, Caroline thought she was going to hate Ric forever. It wasn't really him that did it, but his face was the one being worn that made it happen. And then they learned the truth about what was going on with him, he was made to turn bad, and then they killed him. Or he sacrificed himself. Whatever.
And then she stopped thinking about how Ric killed her dad. It became about how she also lost him. Ric and her dad. She knew she couldn't blame him for what his body did while his mind had no control. Waking Ric, her friend Ric, would never have done that to her dad and she knows that. Still, it's hard sometimes knowing that he's gone.
Even thinking about it now... now that Caroline is pregnant... knowing that her father won't be there for the birth of her baby is hard. Now her baby is only going to have one grandparent. One uncle. One aunt - that's if Rebekah can muster up any care for this baby, which according to Elijah, hasn't happened yet, but he's convinced that it will. Rebekah will come around when the time is right. Klaus, as usual, is both hypocritical and dismissive to his sister, both in her whereabouts and her feelings. But Caroline knows that he's upset that she isn't here. Elijah is throwing in one-hundred and ten percent.
Caroline thinks it hurts him knowing that Rebekah isn't offering anything. But she kind of blames him for that. That's his sister that he's basically tortured, that's her feelings he's disregarded, so it's his fault that she doesn't even want to entertain the idea of a magical, miracle baby for even a moment. But she's keeping in touch, calling Elijah frequently, so that's got to mean something.
"To lose it all, only to find out that it was rebuilt by Marcel... the boy I raised because his father was a repugnant waste of existence..." Klaus shakes his head in disbelief.
Caroline tilts her head to the side a bit in confusion. "Wait, I don't understand." He lifts his head, drawing his eyes up to her own, eyebrow quirking. "Are you angry that it was rebuilt by the boy you raised, or that it was rebuilt at all? Because they mean two very different things." His lips part, thinking about her words. "Klaus, I don't think you're mad about what you think you're mad about."
Klaus glares at her and she knows why. He hates being told what to do and hates being told what he's feeling. Honestly, Caroline is the same, but she feels like someone has to say it, at least even if he gets mad at her, he probably won't cancel their night out. He'll fume for a few hours and then play it off like he's not mad.
"He stole New Orleans from me," Klaus growls, forehead scrunched together in anger.
"Klaus," Caroline says delicately, walking over to stand about a foot in front of him, "Mikael chased you guys out of here over a hundred years ago. You guys were the ones to tell me that. You can't blame him for rebuilding the city you love, because maybe he loved it too. Can't you be proud instead? Proud that in every small, beautiful way, those around you are still undoing Mikael's handiwork. Mikael burned it down, the city you loved so that the boy you raised could use hoodoo voodoo magic to resurrect it from the dead."
Klaus's anger lightens up and she's proud to see that he's actually listening to her. She thought for sure that he would hold onto his anger at least for a little bit longer. She's glad he's not though. He's so much more bearable when he's being calm and rational.
Caroline laces her fingers together on her stomach. "You should be proud of the fact that the four of you helped build a city with a strong enough foundation that even when it literally burned to the ground, the capable young man you raised was able to bring it back up once more." Caroline hesitates for a moment before reaching out to touch Klaus's arm.
"You make it all sound so easy," Klaus says, pulling his hand away from the counter to grab onto her hand and hold it loosely, giving her the chance to pull away if she wanted to. She doesn't feel threatened yet, so she lets him hold on. He is offering to take her out tonight. The least she can do is let him hold her hand. Plus, she doesn't hate it. His big and warm, wrapping around her own. She can feel calluses across his palm and fingertips and finds comfort in it. The primal part of her brain tells her a healthy, strong man has calluses as a hard worker.
"Instead of being angry, look at it as an accomplishment. You did well on both, that if you have to be vain about it, take their survival as a compliment." Caroline presses her lips together for a moment before saying, "but if you do that, you have to acknowledge the part Marcel played in it too. This place looks great. He did a really good job. And if you want to rebuild a relationship with him, if I were you, I would start by giving him that."
Klaus licks his lips, looking down at their hands. He looks conflicted, but at least he's considering what she's said. That, at least, is something to be thankful for. The door opens behind her, so Caroline twists around to see as Bonnie and Stefan walk in and Klaus lets go of her hand. She had to physically stop herself from turning around to look at him, ask him why he did that. She has a suspicious feeling as to the why. And it makes her feel sad. She knows he did it for her because she's still cruising around on uncertainty.
"Hey!" Caroline says, waving at the bright smile that Bonnie sends her way.
"We've arrived, with gifts," Stefan says, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall with his shoulder as Bonnie walks up to Caroline.
"Okay," she says, "it's been a few days, but I think I figured out how to do it. Here, give me your daylight ring, Caroline." She holds her hand out expectantly with an excited smile on her face.
Caroline steps back between the corner of the counter and Klaus to avoid the sunlight from the window behind him, making a mental note to get curtains the next chance they get. She pulls off her ring, laying it down into the palm of her best friend's hand as the witch digs into her pocket and pulls out a very simple silver bracelet with a single, heart-shaped charm that almost looked like a locket.
"Hold out your hand for me." Caroline does, watching as Bonnie clasps it onto Caroline's left wrist. "Good, it fits. Now, let's see if it works." Caroline nods, slowly reaching her hand past Klaus and into the sun, feeling the heat on her fingers, but thankfully she didn't start burning up.
"You made me a daylight... bracelet?" Caroline asks, surprised.
Bonnie beams adorably, proud of herself. "When I was looking through the grimoires I got when I saw the spell to make it. It's harder to do and takes more magic, but it can be done. I figured that since you guys want to keep Caroline being a vampire a secret for as long as you can, that this will help do that. A daylight ring is a dead giveaway. A daylight bracelet is another story. But I also figured that since it dangles, it could fall off easier than a ring could. So I also spelled it that it can't come off unless you take it off."
"Your ingenuity will never cease to impress me, Bonnie Bennett," Klaus says, admiring the bracelet. He touches the small locket on the bracelet, sticking his nail between the crease to see if it will open, but it doesn't. "I'm assuming the lapis lazuli gemstone is hidden in here? And sealed closed, I see."
"Yep," Bonnie says, grinning crookedly. "It's okay to be impressed."
"I am impressed," Klaus says honestly, eyebrows raised high.
Caroline laughs, stepping close and hugging her best friend. "Well, thank you, Bonnie. You're always thinking ahead."
Bonnie squeezed her tightly before pulling back and reaching into her pocket to pull out a simple silver chain which she slides Caroline's ring onto before holding it out for Caroline to take. "Here, just in case something goes wrong. Extra precaution."
Caroline smiles at her best friend, hugging her one last time before clasping the necklace around her neck and hiding it beneath her shirt, praying the chains on both of her necklaces down twist around each other and strangle her during the night. Then again, if that's the way she's going to go, so be it.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Caroline asks, looking between her two friends.
"I'm going back to reading, now that that's done with," Bonnie says, nodding toward the bracelet. "I'm working on a plan, but it's still in its infantile stage so I'll let you know when I start deciding on things." With that, she grabs some yogurt from the fridge and a spoon before waving to them and heading upstairs to do what she said she would.
Stefan pushes away from the wall and walks into the kitchen, rubbing at the back of his neck. "As for me, I'm going back out into the bayou to look for the werewolves, but I'm bringing Hayley with me."
"Like hell you are," Klaus snaps right as the woman in question bounds down the stairs.
"Oh yes he is," she says, stopping next to Stefan. "He needs me out there."
"Stefan is perfectly capable of finding a bunch of wolves," Klaus snaps, pushing away from the counter to glare at Hayley. The werewolf girl shrinks back in fear, but then swallows thickly, steeling herself before clenching her jaw and leveling her eyes with his.
Stefan steps between them before it can break out into a fight. "Actually Klaus, I knew I was ill-equipped to deal with this right from the start, but the Bayou is a big place and if Elijah's intel is correct, that's a lot of ground to cover. Besides, wouldn't it be easier to find werewolves using... oh, I don't know? A werewolf. I'm sure I can convince her to help us."
Klaus glares at Stefan now, who unlike Hayley, doesn't flinch away, staring back with a cool expression on his face. "This is ridiculous," Klaus growls.
"Hayley?" Stefan asks, maintaining eye contact with Klaus.
"Stefan?" Hayley asks, also staring at Klaus, the two of them proving to be a mighty force when united.
"If I asked nicely, would you help me locate the werewolves in the Bayou?"
"Only if you add pretty please with sugar on top," Hayley deadpans, matching Stefan's own tone.
Stefan gives Klaus a high-browed look, lips pressed together tightly. "Oh, would you look at that? I'm capable of asking like that." Then his flippant attitude becomes serious. "I need her help. And it's her family. It's been a few days and she hasn't done anything that leads me to believe she can't be trusted. Come on, Klaus, if it'll make you feel better, I'll get one of those kiddie leashes that are like backpacks. Monkey or bear, your choice."
Hayley gets a look but says nothing. At this point, she'll agree to anything to get her out of this house. Caroline knows exactly how she feels. She agreed to a date with Klaus - or instigated a date with Klaus - tonight. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
"Klaus, let them go," Caroline says. "Besides, I think it's fair. She's keeping our secret, the least we can do is let her look for her own family."
Klaus clicks his tongue, angry once more at being ganged up on. "Fine, take the little wolf with you then, Stefan, but know that she is your responsibility," he snaps, before turning angry eyes toward Hayley, stepping closer and grabbing her arm to look into her eyes which she shrinks back from but can only get so far with her arm wrapped up in his hand. "You listen to me well, Hayley Marshal, under no circumstances at all, will you ever speak of Caroline or our baby. If I so much as hear a syllable leave your lifts, I will tear out your innards. Nothing will threaten my child, or it's mother, do you understand?"
Hayley nods, swallowing thickly. "I get it. I wouldn't ever do something to threaten the life of a child. A baby. I wouldn't. As I said, I know what it's like to be without a mother and father, and while I don't think you'll be winning any awards, I think Caroline will be a good mother."
Klaus scowls at her more while Caroline is both touched by the compliment, and admires the werewolf's backbone. Already able to tell this is going to be the start of a fight, Caroline grabs onto Klaus's arm, bids the two good luck and pulls him toward the front door, stopping only to grab Klaus's keys and heading out, yelling that she loved everyone before leaving. Faintly, she heard Bonnie yell back the same.
"Let's make this date an all-day thing," Caroline says, offering him an uncomfortable grimace of a smile. "I think you need to get out of the house before your head explodes."
"Can you believe the disrespect?" Klaus growls, accepting the keys she puts into his hand as she walks toward the passenger side of Kaus's car when he opens it up for her, waiting for her to climb in before shutting it behind her and walking around to the driver's side. "It's not like I don't have a good reason for my suspicions. How much do we know about Hayley? How could we trust her with the information of our baby is free to fall, willy nilly from her lips?"
"We can't really," Caroline admits. "But I choose to believe her. We've spent the last week attached at the hip, and despite the last time the two of us were together in Mystic Falls and she broke my neck and left me on a bathroom floor, but I choose to forgive. She had her reasons, and while I don't really think it had to go that way, it did. I can't change that. But that doesn't make her malicious. It doesn't make her evil."
"Our baby's protection is of the utmost importance," Klaus argues, driving down the road toward town. "Am I truly the bad guy for wanting to keep it safe? To keep my family safe?"
"No, Klaus," Caroline says softly. "It doesn't make you a bad guy. Protecting our baby is important, but I don't think that Hayley is our enemy." Klaus opens his mouth but Caroline's hand on his arm gives him pause. "I know, you don't trust easily, and maybe that's what's going to keep all of us safe. You need time. I get that. Just keep watching her. Keep protecting us. You aren't doing anything wrong. I might have phrased it a little nicer, but that's just me."
Klaus huffs, settling down a bit now that he's no longer in the middle of being cornered. Klaus taps his thumb against the steering wheel for a few moments thinking, then, softly, he says, "Thank you for saying it like that."
Caroline casts him a sideways glance, eyebrows pulling together slightly. "What do you mean? How did I phrase it?"
"You said 'protecting us' and 'keeping us safe'," Klaus says slowly. He huffs again, softly, shaking his head. "I never thought I would hear you say that in reference to me." He smiles faintly, tentatively.
"I'm sorry," Caroline says softly, giving his arm a little squeeze. "I haven't been very nice to you and I'm sorry about that. I don't want our son to grow up thinking people can just walk all over him if he loves them, and I don't want our daughter thinking she can be mean to those that love her simply because she can be. Because he might be an asshole, but at least he's nice enough not to be as big a bitch back to her as she is to him. It's not right."
Klaus closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again to watch the road. "You don't have to apologize to me, Caroline," Klaus says evenly. "It's not as if I'm undeserving of your words."
"Maybe not," Caroline agrees, "but I need to break the habit. It's not the same as when we first met. And our child, no matter how our relationship evolves, will never see us like that. Being disrespectful, being cruel to one another. No. I won't allow it. Our child won't grow up thinking it's allowed to be disrespectful to its partner. Jelly Bean isn't going to be an asshole."
Klaus smiles ruefully. "I don't know what that looks like..."
Pain stabs at Caroline's heart at how softly he spoke, realizing that it's probably the honest truth. And it hurts her. It hurts her in a way she's can't fully explain. She doesn't know how to make him feel better, but she knows that she feels better with contact. The touch of another always makes her feel better so she draws her hand down his arm to his hand, holding it tightly, relieved when his hand wraps around her own and she prays he finds some comfort in the action.
"Thankfully, we still have a few months to figure it out," Caroline says softly, rubbing her thumb on the back of his pointer finger. "And even if we don't survive as boyfriend and girlfriend, or whatever, the least that we can do is be cordial and kind to one another for the sake of our baby."
Klaus smiles lightly, bringing her hand up to kiss the back of it before resting it between them, not pulling his hand away from hers yet. "Why are you so certain we are going to fail? You and I can't be together forever?"
Caroline laughs, shaking her head. "Come on, Klaus. Don't you think this is crazy? You and I?" She looks over at the side of Klaus's head.
After a moment, Klaus looks over at her with a completely even expression. "No, Caroline, I don't. I already told you, but I'll tell you as many times as you need to hear it. I intend to be your last love and I'll wait however long I have to."
