Bonnie and Damon saw them off the next morning.
"Have a safe drive," said the Bennett witch, offering them a smile as she waved.
"Don't get into trouble the instant we leave," advised Alaric as Hilda finished bucking up the twins' new double car seat in the middle of the back row, adjusting all the straps well. She cast a grateful look toward the pair that remained on the sidewalk. "Thank you for everything."
"No problem, Hilly Billy, just remember, no getting frisky on the road," said Damon, which made her roll her eyes and climb into the front seat.
The ride was basically twice as long as it normally would have been.
Hilda could have ridden in the backseat, but Alaric insisted that he didn't mind stopping every hour for the twins to be given what they needed. He said she ought to be comfortable in front and not crammed in the back.
Thus, every hour, they stopped for over fifteen minutes to make sure the twins were properly fed, burped, changed, and entertained, which gave them a chance to stretch their legs for a bit.
They were still several hours away when Freya called. "Wait at least two hours before you continue to make your way home," she said sternly.
"Why?" demanded Hilda. "What happened?"
"Well, for starters, Stefan Salvatore and Caroline Forbes popped in while on the run from Rayna Cruz. They managed to kill her with Klaus's help, but what joy— she regenerates. We've got a problem to deal with and I'd rather you not be anywhere nearby. Hope is with Mary right now... I think things are going to get ugly."
She narrowed her eyes. "Hayley, what aren't you telling me?"
He hesitated, then said, "Aya is attempting to unlink the sirelines. Klaus and Elijah are trapped in a Chambre de Chasse as we speak."
Hilda swore loudly, and the twins started to cry. "Damn it," she said as Alaric pulled over. She balanced the phone on her shoulder as they got out of the car and each took a twin, rocking them in their arms. "That's what Davina didn't want to tell me. Let me guess, they're doing it to try to kill Nik?"
"And to protect themselves. They will not need to protect Elijah if they are no longer linked to him. Please, sister, don't try to come and pitch in. Go and do something entertaining for a few hours then make your way here. I assume all will be well by nightfall. We are attempting to come up with a solution— I believe I have a spell that will help. I beg of you, don't be stubborn. Listen, and stay away."
Hilda sighed. "Alright, Freya. But only because you asked. Please... be careful. Don't let either of them get killed."
"Don't worry, I will keep them safe."
Hilda was nervous when they got off of the highway and stopped in a nearby town to see what they could do. "Maybe we could shop for a stroller," suggested Alaric.
"Yeah, we could," she said, bringing her knees up to her chest.
"And we could get something to eat, we've just been snacking on stuff."
"That might be a good idea."
"And then we could put the new stroller to good use and walk around the park and talk so that you can keep your mind off of your siblings."
She sighed and covered her face. "I'm sorry. I just... this is really bad. If that spell goes wrong, my brothers will be dead before I get to see them and I feel so useless not being able to help. The Strix could kill Hayley and Freya for trying to save them and Davina... they won't really help her resurrect Kol unless this spell goes off without a hitch."
He took one of her hands, the other resting on the steering wheel to take them down a new road to a nearby shopping center. "It's going to be okay. They're going to figure it out. And you're not useless. You're doing what they asked you to do, and that's something. Besides, they want to keep you safe. When we get there, they'll be waiting with big smiles on their faces, I guarantee it."
They took their time finding the right stroller, pulling the twins along in their carrier. They were stopped several times by those who were excited to see the babies, but it made Hilda more and more irritated, especially with the comments they'd make.
"When will people learn that it's not nice to point things out about other's bodies?" sneered Hilda as they placed the twins in the stroller to test it out. "Did you hear that woman— 'You had a C-Section and you flattened up again? Most women remain bloated for months.' So what, who cares? Maybe it wasn't insulting to me but it irks me that they make comments to those women who don't have vampiric healing and can't just go back to normal after giving birth to a baby! Why do they feel the need to make comments about how they look post giving birth? It's ridiculous."
Alaric just nodded along. "Well, that's an important lesson to teach the girls when they're old enough."
"Yes, yes it is. I don't get why people care what someone else does with their body. Let them express themselves and be happy with who they are without nitpicking things that might be their greatest insecurity. Ugh." She shook her head and started to push the stroller. "I apologize again— I'm bloody furious."
"It's alright, you're understandably mad," he said with a shrug. "I can't wait til the girls start wanting to make dramatic changes to their appearances. As long as it's nothing permanent, it'll be fun to see what they want to dress up as. Maybe they'll adopt a British accent for a few years."
"Why would they do that?" said Hilda quizzically.
"Well, I don't know if you realized, but I have an American accent and yours is British/Australian. They'll probably have a more Americanized speaking voice because of school, but they'll learn pretty well how to do a British accent, and they will probably mimic you."
This certainly got her mind off of stupid people. "Maybe Lizzie will want to be British and Josie will want to be American. They'll fool everyone into thinking they aren't twins when they are."
They stopped at a diner to get some food, keeping the twins in their stroller and letting them sleep soundly beside them. They tried to take their time eating, but Hilda couldn't help but nervously zoom through her dish, so she kept asking for more helpings, which no one questioned this time, especially once they saw the two little girls napping.
"They probably think I'm a glutton," she moaned, covering her face in shame as she had another bowl of ice cream. "But I'm stressed and angry and worried and I can't feed at the moment and the food here is better than I expected it to be..."
"There's nothing wrong with having more food, you're not putting it to waste and it's not like you're taking that food away from anyone else so that you can indulge in it yourself."
Hilda half-smiled, but immediately flinched and dipped down to pick Josie up just milliseconds before she let out a whimper. She brought the little girl to rest against her chest before she could start crying, and rubbed her back. "Shh," she said, bouncing her lightly. "Go back to sleep..."
Alaric was staring at her in awe. "How did you—?"
"I heard a change in her heartbeat," she said with a light blush. "She must have been startled with some of the noises here. Once she felt Josie had been lulled back into a deep enough sleep, she set her down. "There you go, princess, you're all good now."
When Hilda decided she really needed to stop eating, they went for a stroll around the block of shops and into a park not far from where they had been. The grass was unfortunately quite dead, but there was a nice breeze that made Hilda feel at least a bit better about everything.
"I was thinking we should talk about middle names," said Alaric. He was now pushing the stroller, and the twins were looking up in awe. "For Josette, I thought it would be right to have her middle name be Olivia, after her mother's sister. Josette Olivia Saltzman has a nice ring to it."
Hilda pursed her lips. "Yes, it does. What were you thinking of for Lizzie?"
"I thought I'd leave that up to you. Maybe name her after someone in your family, someone you want to commemorate."
She looked down at the little girl and reached for two of the new pacifiers, placing one gently in Lizzie's mouth, then one in Josie's, to help them have something to do other than stare upwards. "Well, the only person I could think I could think to name her after would be Henrik. Had he been a girl, my parents would have name him Astrid. What do you think sounds better— Elizabeth Henrietta Saltzman or Elizabeth Astrid Saltzman?"
"Elizabeth Astrid Saltzman," he said firmly. "I like it."
After three hours, they decided it was finally time to start heading to New Orleans again. They placed the twins into their car seat, and Hilda climbed in the back with them after moving the front seat forward and down so that she could rest her legs on it. This helped them not have to make so many stops, since it was already getting late and they needed to rest— especially Alaric since he'd been driving so much.
The Compound was deathly quiet when they walked in. Hilda gave a gulp and lifted the carrier with the twins a bit higher as she went up the stairs toward her room, pulling a suitcase behind her. Alaric followed behind with one of the other suitcases. The Original could sense that no one was in the house at that moment, and it made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. She pushed open the door to her room and saw it had been cleaned earlier. A note on her dresser let her know that Kol's room had been cleaned as well, for Alaric to use. Hilda set the twins down carefully on her bed, dropping her suitcase. She went to peek into Kol's room and leaned into the doorway when she turned on the light, seeing it had indeed been freshened up.
"You can put your suitcase in there," said Hilda to Alaric before walking back into her room and unzipping her bag, beginning to put things away. "We can get everything else tomorrow."
"I'm sure they're alright," he said, trying to reassure her. "They're probably just delayed..."
She wrung her hands together. "Yes, probably..."
But she perked up at the sound of movement. She paused, first, to make sure it wasn't just some stranger walking in. But sure enough, she heard Freya's voice.
"I think she's here already," she heard Freya say. "Let's go upstairs, they might be getting settled in."
A smile grew on Hilda's face. "It's them." She closed her suitcase again and lifted the carrier with the twins, holding it against her hip as she walked out toward the balcony as her siblings, Hayley, and Hope began to climb the stairs.
When Freya saw her, she immediately broke into a run. Hilda handed the twins off to Alaric and sped to meet her sister, pulling her into a tight hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you," she whispered as Freya rubbed her back.
"It's even better to see you," said Freya, moving back and covering her mouth in awe as she approached the babies. "Oh my goodness... they're so beautiful! I never got to see Hope when she was this small... oh..."
Hilda turned as her brothers and Hayley, carrying Hope, arrived. She jumped into Klaus's arms first, kissing his cheek. Forgetting all her previous anger with Elijah, she hugged him next, leaning her head into his chest. "How did it go?" she asked a bit nervously. "What happened?"
"I remain linked to my sireline," said Elijah as Hilda hugged Hayley next, and kissed Hope's forehead. "Niklaus, however..."
"I'm going to kill Davina," he said irritably, looking a bit pale. "She went on with it..."
"Nik, can you refrain from the killing talk for a bit?" said Hilda as she moved to where Freya had led Alaric into the study. "I'd very much like for you to get to meet the twins with a more upbeat attitude."
Klaus sighed dejectedly, but closed his mouth. Alaric set the carrier on one of the desks, and Hayley was the first to move closer to them, bringing Hope over and leaning her down. "Those are your cousins," she whispered as the toddler looked at them with wide eyes. "Lizzie and Josie."
"Cousins," repeated Hope, reaching a hand in. Hayley pulled it back. "Not yet, Hope, they're still really little. We'll wait for Aunt Hilda to tell you when you can start trying to touch them, okay? Right now, they're sleeping."
"Would you like to hold them, Freya?" offered Alaric, moving over to unbuckle the twins from the carrier.
"Oh, can I?" she said dreamily.
"Of course you can," said Hilda. She picked up Josie first and placed her in her arms. "This one is Josie." She then took Lizzie. "Here, Nik..."
Klaus stepped forward and took the little girl in his arm, smiling down. "This one has a glint of trouble in her eyes."
"And this one looks so remarkably sweet," sighed Freya, rocking the baby gently. "They're both so perfect... you are quite lucky."
"Thank you," said Alaric. He seemed like he wanted to ask Elijah if he wanted to hold one of the twins next, but he knew it would be better for Hilda to offer it to him.
"I don't ever want to let her go," sighed Klaus as he looked at Lizzie, with Hayley and Hope looking over his shoulder. "I remember when Hope was this small... when we had to send her away so that she would be safe..."
"Cousin," whined Hope, reaching past Hayley and trying to hold the baby. "Jo, Liz."
"This one's Lizzie," said Hayley. Hilda came over and took Hope's hand, guiding it so that she could gently touch Lizzie's shoulder. "You were once this small, just as your father has said."
Hope was absolutely delighted to get to make contact. She giggled and patted her shoulder before bringing her hand back to clap them together. "Happy cousin, sleeping."
"Yes, she is sleeping." Hilda took Lizzie back as Klaus gestured toward her. She turned to Elijah, who had been standing back a bit. "Elijah?"
He looked honored to have been asked. He took Lizzie and sighed. "I remember when you and Kol were this little." He leaned onto his sister and cast her a smile. "Congratulations, Hilda. They're wonderful."
No one wanted to go to sleep, despite the fact everyone seemed exhausted. They all wanted to hold the babies and talk about them even though they were only sleeping or making faces. Hope was walking around and bringing them random objects from the study as though she was gifting them things to have for their own. Every question was answered and they continued to chat until Hope fell asleep in Hayley's lap. They bade each other goodnight and went off to their separate rooms.
"We can give them their first bath tomorrow," said Hilda as she and Alaric set up Kol's bed for the twins, stacking pillows around so that they would be comfortable. They could have used a cradle, but this gave them more room, and they were very safe.
Alaric and Hilda moved their suitcases out of the way and left the adjoining door open as they climbed into Hilda's bed, a bit further apart from each other than usual. Both seemed to subconsciously feel as though they one, needed to get used to staying on their respective side in case they put the twins between them, and two, needed to keep their distance for a bit to not succumb to temptation.
It had only been about two hours into their sleep when Hilda woke up abruptly, hearing that the twins' heartbeats had changed. She sped to where they were and picked them both up very carefully, rocking them just before they could cry. "Shh," she said tiredly, sitting on the bed and leaning back into the pillows so that they wouldn't fall. "It's okay, don't worry. Let's get you your bottle, okay?" She moved to the dresser, where they had set down the wipes, diapers, formula, and bottles for them. She was just wondering which twin she ought to put down first to make the bottle for the other one when she sensed movement, and Alaric seemed to appear at her side.
"I thought I'd be able to do it on my own to let you sleep," she said sheepishly as he started to make the bottles.
"I don't mind waking up," he said, blinking a few times as he started to mix the formula. "If you're going to be tending to them, so am I. You may be able to get to them faster but I'm not going to let you do this on your own."
She blushed, and was glad he couldn't see it with the minimal light in the room. "I just felt bad. You're more tired than me."
"We're in this together, aren't we? Jo used to say that it's better for babies when both parents take care of them together as often as possible. Keeps the family healthy. Here— bottle one." He pushed it toward her and took Lizzie from her, laying her down for her bottle as she sniffled.
"I wish she was here," murmured Hilda as she pressed the bottle against Josie's lips. "She knows more about the medical aspects of babies... I've read all these things but at the end of the day, I won't have any idea what to do if they fall ill. I'll want to give them my blood or something..."
"What she would have advised," he whispered, watching Lizzie drink, "is that we get in contact with a pediatrician wherever we go and prepare a plan for what to do if we notice something is wrong with them. We can look for doctors tomorrow in case they come down with something in these few weeks that we stay."
Hilda nodded, and looked down at Josie, feeling herself starting to tear up. "I'm sorry, little one," she sniffled, trying to swallow back the tears. "I know I'm not the mother you expected, I know that there are a lot of things I won't be able to do right... I don't want to replace your mother. Instead, I will raise you to be just as incredible as she was, and I will try to be the best surrogate mother possible. I promise."
Alaric cast her a sad look as she shook her head. "What will they call me?" she whispered. "When they can talk? I-It'll feel wrong for them to call me any variation of 'Mother.' I'm not their mother..."
"Biologically, no," he replied softly. "Via surrogacy... yes. You're going to help raise them. You may not share any genes with them but you are going to be the maternal figure in their life. I think Jo would have wanted for them to call someone'Mom.' Kids need that kind of thing in their lives, and I doubt they'll think to call you 'Hilda' or 'Aunt Hilda.' Eventually, we will tell them the truth, and they can decide from there. But it's not wrong if they call you 'Mom,' you know. Jo wouldn't have wanted you to feel like they're not your daughters. You carried them for nine months. You gave birth to them. You've been so gentle and understanding and just... patient in a way I hadn't seen before. No one could ever replace Jo and I know that's not your intention, so don't think it wrong if you want to refer to them as your daughters. It's not as though you're forgetting her, or dishonoring her."
"It feels like I am, Ric," she said, setting Josie's bottle down as she finished it. She moved her onto her side and patted her back gently to burp her. "I carried them, yes, I forged an attachment to them, yes, my siblings have welcomed them as Mikaelsons and I want to help them grow up but... it should be her, not me. She shouldn't have died. I just... I don't know. This feels so wrong."
"But... why?" he prompted. "Hilda, please, you can be honest with me."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Look... the entire time that you and her were together, I wished... I wished that I was her. I wished that things between us didn't have to be so complicated. I regretted letting you go but she was so wonderful and I hated myself— I still hate myself— for having been jealous. The day you told me about the pregnancy and the engagement... I felt so lost. And it was worse because I knew I shouldn't have been feeling that way. I shouldn't have butted in— I should have pulled back, I shouldn't have shown my face at the wedding. Kai was right, I'm nothing but a homewrecker. Here I am, holding her daughters, and she's somewhere in Heaven or whatever is out there... I'm beside you, thinking things that I shouldn't... this just so much. I still feel so bad and I know I shouldn't but I do. I fancy you, Alaric, I do, and I never stopped fancying you even when you got together with her. This isn't fair to her. I should have died instead of her. This... us... it's just dishonoring her."
"I felt jealous when I saw you with Tristan," he mumbled back when she turned away to set Josie down. "And I was still mourning Jo. I'm pretty sure that's worse. I liked you the entire time I was with her and I know... I know that she was aware of it. She knew I would never get over you. I loved her so, so much, but a part of me still felt things for you. Even now... I feel and think things that I shouldn't, either. I want to say that she would have preferred it be you rather than anyone else. She would... she would say something along the lines of you making me happy because I deserve happiness. But it doesn't feel like I do. I have strong, strong feelings for you, Hilda, and I want to kiss you, I want to hold you, I want to love you and make love to you and raise these twins with you and make this a perfect family."
"But we shouldn't," she concluded, refraining from looking at him as he put Lizzie beside Josie. "We both feel like we're betraying her. Me, because I've inserted myself in a place where she should be, and you...."
"...because I never once lost feelings for you even when I was with her," he finished. He sighed and placed his hand against the pillows. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Hilda, I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to hurt these twins, and I don't want to hurt Jo, even if she's not here right now. I've made this complicated. I shouldn't have jumped in with her before I got over you. I knew I was entering a relationship while my heart belonged to someone else and I went through with it, I basically cheated on her. This is my fault. Please, you shouldn't feel guilty. You broke things off to protect me, you encouraged me to find someone new because you wanted me to be happy, and I was the idiot who didn't think to be honest with the woman I tried to start a family with. Jo would never blame you, and neither do I. The one at fault here is me."
Hilda sighed. "Ric, no..."
"Yes, it's my fault. I'm the one who made things complicated. I don't want you beating yourself up over it. You weren't the one who cheated on your partner with me. You came to the wedding at my insistence because I wanted your support. When you were with Tristan, you thought only of him— that's how I should have been with Jo. I did wrong by her and I will forever regret it. But please, understand that this complication is because of me and not because of you. You've done a fantastic job with the twins and I know Jo would want you to be comfortable being their mother. It's me who should be ashamed. They deserve a better father." He shook his head. "Listen... I think I should sleep in this room now."
She nodded weakly and looked at her feet. As much as she wanted him to keep sleeping beside her to help put her at ease, she knew it was not right. "I'll go get the cradle." She sped off to retrieve it and came back with it in tow, cleaning it quickly and setting it against the wall before placing blankets and pillows inside of it and setting the twins into it. Alaric climbed into Kol's bed and cast her a sad look. "Goodnight, Hilda."
"Goodnight, Alaric," she whispered back before closing the adjoining door and going to her bed, where she buried her face in her sheets and started to sob.
Comments? I really would like to hear your thoughts on this. Happy 600 pages!