The apartment was strung with Christmas lights, the tree was decorated, stockings hung on the makeshift mantle, poinsettias sat in the vase by the front door, and their unscented candles had been switched out for ones with scents of the season. Abigail looked at it all before she sat up from where she was laying on the couch, but she didn't call out to Alaric, not yet. Instead, she remained silent until she was leaning against the archway to the bedroom where mistletoe was hanging.
"I found it." Abigail held up her tablet, pulling Alaric's eyes from the book he was reading. "The house."
He marked his page with the note she left him the night before. "But?"
"It's over budget."
He motioned her forward. "Let me see."
She climbed into the bed, making her place the middle rather than her side of it, as she watched him swipe through the listing.
"Two-story, corner lot, front and back porch, huge backyard, right school district. There's even an apartment over the garage that would be perfect for when Elena and Damon come to visit-" She caught what she said, sighing heavily before correcting herself, "Perfect for when Damon comes to visit."
He draped an arm behind her. "There's still a chance, you know, that we'll see Elena again."
"I know." She leaned into him, his flannel shirt soft and warm. "I just wish she was here..."
He ran his fingers along the cold skin of her exposed arm. "Me too."
"And my parents..." Laying her head on his chest, she did not try to hold back her tears. "You know, the reason my room was blue was because my dad was so excited after he found out my mom was pregnant that he painted my walls right then and there. It was only paint leftover from the first round of renovations they did, so he just painted and painted, not caring if he was going to have a boy or a girl, he just painted. That was the first thing he ever did for me."
"Let's put an offer in on the house."
She sat up with enthusiasm. "Really?"
"It's perfect." He smiled. "Besides, I'm a tenured professor at Southern Methodist University now. I think we can make it work."
"You got the job?"
"I got the job!"
"Oh, my God!" She kissed him. "I got into the Anthropology graduate program. Again. I was going to tell you at dinner, but-"
As the hard and fast certainty with which he kissed her turned soft and slow, the comfort that only came from the arms of the other held them there for a period of time that was undefined.
The Toys for Tots Toy-Drive had been led by Caroline every year she was at Whitmore. Abigail had put her time in, some years more than others, and so had Bonnie, but they were not nearly as active as the blonde who was sporting an elf hat as she talked on the phone while sorting through donations. She was aiming to fill twenty crates, a quota they were steadily making their way toward as they moved wrapped gifts from one place to another.
"Look at her," Abigail said. "She popped this week."
Bonnie looked from Caroline to Abigail. "Did she tell you I caught her mixing a blood bag with a jar of mayonnaise at two o'clock this morning?"
"No."
"Okay..." Caroline blushed as she crossed over to them. "One, that was marshmallow fluff, and, two, I'm feeding for three now, so I get cravings."
"Fair." Abigail smiled as she put her hands on either side of Caroline's bump. "Besides, I'm pretty sure the things you can and can't get away with are a little different when it comes to magical vampire pregnancies."
"Words that should probably not be spoken at that volume," Alaric said as he stopped at Abigail's side. "I dropped off our donation at the door, so are you guys ready to go to this class?"
Abigail reached under the table for her backpack and a spiral. "Now I am."
He pulled his hands from his coat pockets. "You know it's a birthing class and not SAT prep, right?"
"And you know it's childbirth and not lesson planning, right?" She pushed a stack of papers into his hands. "This was the least graphic one I could find. Study up."
From her place in front of a chalkboard with tips on how to be a supportive partner, the birth class's granola instructor neared the end of her lecture, "So, the key differences between Braxton-Hicks contractions and real contractions are-"
"Consistency, frequency, intensity, location, and effect of movement." Abigail sat up in her place on Caroline's right side. "And, of course, your water breaks with real contractions."
"Exactly." The instructor looked around the circle. "And what if, no matter how much you plan, your water breaks at home?"
Caroline raised her hand. "C.O.A.T. Note the color, odor, amount, and time, keep your birth plan on hand, and call your care provider."
"Wow!" She looked from Alaric's bemused expression to Caroline's notes and then to Abigail's stack of books. "You guys really dug into that suggested reading list."
"Well, yeah. I hope everyone did. It's a baby. I mean, each and every one of us is bringing a life into the world." Caroline put her hands on her stomach with a sigh. "That is a huge responsibility."
"Encouraging words, Caroline, as always. Thank you." She clapped. "Okay. Let's pick this back up next time."
The class members stood up, Alaric the fastest with a wary look at Caroline and a kiss on Abigail's cheek. "Sorry to just run, but my meeting started ten minutes ago."
"Well, I think you have a pretty good excuse." She took his face in her hands to kiss him. "I love you."
He kissed her again, something that once they did in public they couldn't help but do again. "I love you, too."
Caroline waited for him to turn to her before she said, "I hate that look."
"What look?" He asked.
"That was a 'Your hormones are making you crazy because you are pregnant' look, which is really just a man's attempt to minimize the gift that our bodies bring into this world." Caroline shrugged. "'A Feminist Guide to Pregnancy,' Chapter four, page forty-three."
"Actually, I believe that particular quote is found in Chapter three." He looked between them. "What? Did you two really think I wasn't reading every book you were?"
Abigail shrugged. "I guess I should've known."
"Okay, I really, really have to go." Almost hesitantly, he reached out to touch Caroline's bump. "Bye, girls."
Watching him leave, Abigail sighed out, "Maybe we aren't giving him enough credit."
"I mean, his standing nicknames are Professor Bourbon and Bourbon Breath-"
She was expecting something else to follow her words, a smile, a laugh, anything other than what she gave. "What? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah." Caroline smiled fakely. "It's just my vampire-hearing is working a little too well lately."
"Listen to what I heard last week," a woman said to her partner loud enough for Abigail to hear, "he's been messing around with the brunette one since she was one of his students."
Abigail straightened her spine, but it wasn't enough to change the look on her face. "Caroline, it's okay."
The veins under Caroline's eyes and her fangs came out as she took a step toward the couple, but she didn't even seem to notice. "No. It's not okay."
"Caroline-"
"They're having a difficult time with the subtle realities of the 21st century, where families come in all shapes and sizes. I think I should explain it to them..."
"Caroline, Caroline, Caroline, Caroline!" Just as she was about to lunge for them, Abigail moved so that she was blocking her. "Your eyes! Your eyes!"
Caroline stopped herself, her human face returned, and she said, "It's just the hormones."
She was downplaying it, Abigail knew that, but with concern she repeated, "It's just the hormones."
Abigail held the apartment door open for Caroline who stopped in the living room with a sigh. She reached into her organized bag without having to look, pulling a blood bag from the lunchbox she'd taken to carrying with her. She ripped it open, gulping more than half the contents down as Abigail took a beer out of the fridge.
"Oh, I've needed this all day!"
Abigail reentered the room, lifting her drink in cheers. "Yeah, you and me both."
Caroline stopped drinking just as fast as she had started. "Do you think this is okay for the babies?"
She sighed. "Caroline..."
"I'm serious!" Caroline dropped the blood bag onto the surprisingly cleared off coffee table before walking the length of the room. "What if blood is like alcohol? What if it's bad for them?"
Stepping toward her, she asked, "If it's good for you, how can it be bad for them?"
"I don't know, but you don't know either, because there's no studies on this!" Caroline yelled. "There's no books, there's..."
"Look, Caroline, you're doing a great job." She reached out to comfort her. "A better job than I could do, I'm sure."
Caroline groaned as she turned her back on her. "Would you stop saying that?"
"But you are!" Her eyes locked on a strip of sonogram photos on the wall. "This is a miracle."
"I said, stop!"
Caroline sped toward her, shoving her against the wall in a chokehold. She let her go as soon as she realized what she had done, but that didn't shake the fear from Abigail's eyes. They stared at each other, disbelief muddling with panic, until she tried to speak.
"I..." Caroline shook her head. "Have to go."
Abigail chased her into the hall and down the stairs, but she was gone before she even made it through the building's front door. "Caroline!"
Alaric got home with a kiss and a quick hello in the dark. He moved quickly as he passed through the living room to get to the kitchen with a shopping bag. It was small, packed with tissue paper and tied closed with a ribbon, so she followed him with as much excitement as her body would allow.
"Look what I got on the way home." He held up matching outfits for the twins, mistaking the look on her face for something else. "Oh, no. You don't like them. I knew I should've-"
"No, no." She took them from him, the small buttons and soft material finally bringing a smile to her face. "They're adorable."
He rounded the island to stand next to her. "What's wrong?"
She stacked the outfits with the pile of onesies in the laundry basket full of baby clothes waiting to be washed. "A pregnant vampire is..."
"What happened?"
"Caroline overheard some people talking about us after class and she got so mad that she vamped out. I got her out of there before anything could happen, but when we got back here..." She grabbed at her neck. "She lost her temper."
He placed his hands on her hips, bringing her body closer to his with a short step. "Did she hurt you?"
"I'm more worried about her than anything. I mean, it's Caroline." He looked at her in a way that said he didn't believe her, so she put her hands on his shoulders as if she was going to shake them. "I'm fine, really."
A figure appeared behind him. It was Caroline. She did not look angry, she did not look regretful, she only looked devastated. And the moment someone asked her what was wrong, she was hysterical.
"Hey, hey, it's okay." Abigail led her to the couch. "Sit down."
Caroline's grip tightened on her to the point it was painful. "No..."
"What is it?" Abigail submitted to the pain, the question she asked more important, "Caroline, what is going on?"
"Julian had the Phoenix Sword and..."
Alaric moved to Caroline's other side. "He came back to Mystic Falls? Why would he do that?"
"Stefan, he couldn't let it go." Her breath came out in huffs, but her words came out clear. "Damon wanted him to let it go but he couldn't."
"Caroline, where are they?" Alaric's strong voice filled the room. "Where are Stefan and Damon?"
"They're in the stone. They're in the Phoenix Stone."