Whittmore Dorm
3rd Person:
Chris is sitting on his bed in his college dorm at Whitmore, writing in his journal
'Dear, Elena
I'm going to be a Dad....'
Chris pauses, not knowing what to say next, he sighs before he continues to write down his thoughts
'Extremely long story short, things happened and now I have a child which was somehow magically placed into Caroline's readily available vampire womb. I don't fully know how, or even why....but I have my theories. Expression being the manifestation of my will and being in my own reality with a family, with kids....maybe I wanted it to become a true reality. I still don't understand why the kids been placed in Caroline, but that's the least of my worries
I guess I thought writing to you might help me figure out how I felt about this. Because on one hand this is weird but....amazing. I never thought I'd have a child, ever. But I guess things happen in ways we don't expect. On the other hand, it kind of scares me. Being who we are attracts a lot of unwanted attention, now not only do I have to protect myself I have a whole human child to protect
I've been trying to help Caroline with this since one child is a big thing, but three. Her vamp brain is probably running on overdrive
Anyway, as usual, until next time'
~~~~
Night:
Caroline is studying on her bed in her, Chris' and Bonnies dorm alone when her phone buzzes. When she sees that it's Stefan she smiles weakly as she answers it "Well, you're either really drunk, or calling to tell me that you found a new girlfriend" She said jokingly since earlier on she told Stefan 'the news'
Stefan laughs nervously at this joke "None of the above, although a drink does sound really good right about now"
Caroline sighs since she can't do that anymore "Yeah, tell me about it"
Stefan hesitates before beginning his apology "Listen, I'm really sorry about earlier. I didn't know what to say, and I didn't want to say the wrong thing, so I just bailed..."
"Well I guess there's no right thing to say when you find out that your girlfriend is magically pregnant with not one but two other mens babies" She chuckled "Look, I know that this is happening to both of us. And you stood by me through everything I went through with my mom, so I totally get it if you want to run for the hills"
On his end Stefan smiled "I'm not going anywhere because I love you"
Caroline, overwhelmed and relieved to hear him say this, smiles widely " I guess there is a right thing to say to this weird thing after all
"Listen. No matter how weird this all gets, I'm here for you. We're gonna get through this together"
Caroline makes a face, but it's clear she's thrilled about this reaction "Are you sure? Because it could get really weird, I don't know how but it could. Chris is already hovering over me making sure in not eating things that could hurt them, it's cute but kind of annoying"
Stefan laughed "Yeah I'm possitive. And you've spent your whole life with Chris. Did you expect anything else?"
"I guess not" Caroline laughed along with him "I love you two"
~~~~
Several weeks have passed since the funeral of Lily Salvatore, and it's almost Christmas now. Chris is wearing an elf's hat as he helps with the Christmas charity while protectivly watching over Caroline
"And that's my cue. I'll call you later" He heard Caroline say on the phone to Stefan
Chris goes over and gives Caroline a teasing smile as she starts to put the wrapped toys into Santa Claus bags
"Hey, Stefan. Did I mention Chris saw me mix a blood bag with a jar of mayonnaise at 2:00 in the morning?"
Caroline blushes in embarrassment and starts to help Bonnie with the work "Okay. One, that was marshmallow fluff, and, two, I'm feeding for four now so I get very extreme cravings"
Chris nodded at her "Okay fair enough. But why not just tell him? You know he worries"
"Because he doesn't need to worry about the specifics of my magical pregnancy with your and Alaric's babies" She said a little loud
Alaric and Bonnie appear behind them with a bemused expression "Words you probably shouldn't be shouting at college" Alaric says
Alaric looks over at Caroline "You ready to go to this class?"
Caroline takes off Chris' elf hat before gathering up her study materials in preparation to leave with him "Your not wearing that to the class"
"But it's Christmas" Chris whined
Bonnie shook her head and laughed a little "How is it the child, is having a child"
"Yeah well your gonna be an aunt. Auntie Bon-Bon. Also that was mean which will not be tolerated one the baby comes" Chris pointed at her judgingly
Alarix was looking confused at what Caroline was doing while Chris and Bonnie attacked one another "You know it's a birthing class, right, Caroline, and not SAT prep?" He said as she held books and leaflets
Caroline gave him the evil eye and turned to Bonnie and split up the troublesome twins. Bonnie then picked up Caroline's clipboard to lead the toy drive "You sure you can handle this on your own?" She asked her
Bonnie chuckled a little "If you can handle all of this while pregnant with Alaric and Chris around you, then I can handle a fraction of it while not. Go to your class"
Caroline sighs and hands Alaric and Chris some of the study materials she collected "That was the least graphic ones I could find. Study up"
Alaric can't help but scoff as Chris looked at his hands where Caroline shoved books in "What, studying" He whined "This wasn't in the job description" Caroline turned and gave Chris another one of her evil eyes "Erm, I mean I love studying.... it's fun"
Chris then quickly follows after her as Bonnie gives him a sympathetic look "Good luck"
~~~~
Pregnancy Class:
Caroline Alaric and Chris are at the pregnancy training class, where they are joined by several other women and their partners. The instructor is near the end of her lecture "And what if, no matter how much you plan, your water breaks at home?"
Caroline shot her hand up and answered "C.O.A.T. Note the color, odor, amount, and time, keep your birth plan on hand, and call your care provider"
The Instructor smiled and cheekily said "Wow! Someone really dug into that suggested reading list"
Caroline laughed a little "Well, yeah. I hope everyone did. It's a baby. I mean, each and every one of us are bringing a life into the world. That is a huge responsibility"
"Caroline" Chris whispered "You need to calm. No one likes a know it all" Caroline shot him a look
"Encouraging words, Caroline, as always. Thank you. Okay. Let's pick this back up next time."
The class members all start to pack up their things, and Alaric gives Caroline a wary look "Don't give me that look" She rolled her eyes and stood up
"What look?" Alaric responded
"That is a 'Your hormones are making you crazy because you are pregnant' look, which I will have you know is really just a man's attempt to minimize the gift that our bodies bring into this world. Chris litteraly just called me crazy for actually paying attention"
"I didn't call you crazy. I told you to calm down. And don't go all feminist on me, I've read the books you keep throwing at me"
Alaric looks at her with exasperation, and Caroline shrugs "So you'd know it's from 'A Feminist Guide to Pregnancy' Chapter 4, page 43"
"Actually, I believe that particular quote is found in Chapter 3" Now it was Caroline who gave Alaric a surprised look "What? You think I'm also not gonna read every book that you're reading?"
Before Caroline can answer, she's quickly distracted by a man and a woman who are gossiping about her by the entrance. Chris could also hear them talking about the three of them
"Isn't he a professor at Whitmore?"
"Yeah, and the other two are students"
Caroline's face becomes furious, and Alaric looks at her with concern "What? Is everything okay? Chris what's happening?"
"Who'd you recons the dad"
Caroline pretends as though she's not hurt by their words and smiles fakely "Yeah. It's just my vamp hearing is working a little too well"
They then hears the woman again, only this time, she talks loudly enough that Alaric can hear as well
"Well if it's the professor, What do you want to bet she's doing really well in his class?"
Alaric sees the furious look on Caroline's face and becomes even more worried
"Uh-oh" Alaric said looking at Chris worryingly while Caroline tries her best to reassure them that she's fine, but they obviously don't buying it
"No....It's okay. They're just having a difficult time with the subtle realities of the 21st century, where families come in all shapes and sizes" Suddenly, Caroline's vampire face and fangs come out, though she doesn't seem to notice it as she walks toward the couple to teach them a vampuric lesson "I think I should explain it to them--"
Chris normally ran around infront of her to stop her and block her face from people "Caroline, please" He panicked trying to calm her
Caroline ignored him and carried on talking "--That I have a boyfriend, and while he may not be the father-"
Just as she's about to jump around Chris to lunge for them, he gently grabbed her shoulders trying to capture her attention as quietly as possible "Caroline, Caroline! Your eyes! Your eyes! Stop it"
Caroline, with a horrified look, she realizes that she's vamped-out and immediately stops herself, causing her human face to return. Mortified, Caroline tries her best to downplay the situation "It's just the hormones"
Alaric looks at Chris both concerned and skeptical as she walks away, they then follow behind her to return to his apartment making sure she doesn't try to eat people on the way
~~~~
Alarics Apartment:
Caroline is in the middle of anxiously pacing around in Alaric's living room when Chris comes in with a blood bag for her and one for himself while Alaric got some beer
"Ohhh, I was two seconds away from tearing their heads off!" She screamed
Chris hands her the blood bag and smiles reassuringly "They were jerks. I should've ripped their heads off myself, or at least compelled them"
Caroline rips the top of the blood bag to drink it and moans in relief "Oh, I've needed this all day!"
"Yeah, you and me both" Chris does the same, opening the blood bag and drinking it
Caroline is in the middle of gulping down her snack when she suddenly stops and makes a face while softly gagging "Do you think this is okay for the babies?"
Alaric exasperatedly huffed at more of her panicking "Caroline...."
She interupted him "I'm being serious! What if blood is like alcohol to them?" Pointing to the bottle in Alarics hand "What if it's bad for them?"
Caroline quickly drops the blood bag onto the coffee table, and Alaric looks at her with an exasperated yet concerned expression. He then gave her a gentle look "Look, if it's good for you, how can it be bad for them?"
Caroline started to panic "I don't know, but you don't know either, because there's no studies on this! There's no books or--"
"Caroline, you yourself need blood to live. So If you stop drinking and dessicate, I think that will also be bad for the babies" Chris joked and tried to reassure her
Alaric walks toward Caroline to comfort her, but she's only becoming more agitated "Look, Caroline, you're doing a great job"
Caroline groaned "Would you stop saying that" Caroline turns her back to him and tries her best to keep herself from losing control
"The books you gave me say a new mother, or in this case a surrogate, should always be uplifted when they're doing great" Chris explained to her "Which you are"
"Exactly you are! I mean, do you realize how happy you've made me? I mean, this is a miracle. You've turned my life around--" Alaric said
Just then, Caroline snaps and vamps-out before turning around to face him "I said, stop!!"
She vamp speeds toward him and shoves him against the wall in a choke-hold for a brief moment until Chris, carefully, used his speed to pull her away so she wouldn't eat Alaric. When he let her go she becomes horrified at the sight of what she's done
Alaric looks terrified for a brief moment before he recovers. Caroline shakes her head in disbelief for a second until she finally speaks "I have to go"
Alaric, who looks worried about Caroline, starts to chase after her, but he's not fast enough
"Caroline!" Chris shouted and ran after her
~~~~
Grams' Gave:
After searching Chris lost Caroline, he then decided to leave her to deal with herself for a while
In the snow and the night he walked to the land of passed on Bennetts. He sat on a bench that stood beside the grave of 'Sheila Bennett'
"Hey Grams, I'm back" He sighed "Another Christmas spent without you. My first Christmas back here since you sent me to that Prison World where I didn't get to be here for Christmas. But no judgement here"
"I got a present for you" He chuckled "I'll spare you the details of how because, I don't even fully know. But it's happening, I'm having a child"
"I always thought we'd have this conversation about me adopting or surrogacy or not having any at all but....you remember Caroline, of course you do. Well she's carrying it-"
Chris sat here pretending they were having a conversation "-and no I didn't knock her up if that's what your thinking. Yet again it was magic that caused this"
He started to tear up "But it doesn't mean I don't want to do this right. Like how you did with me and Bonnie" He sniffed
"I wish you were here. All I want to do is sit in our front room while you drink and ask you a million questions because-- the kids aren't hers, Ric has his, and I'll probably be alone. I just don't want to mess up like my stupid dad did but....I really don't know what I'm doing" He sobbed a little
"I just miss you so much"