"Don't you understand, love? You're the other woman."
"How could I possibly be the other woman Nik! I'm your wife! We've been married for over a year!"
"Our marriage was simply an alliance that my brother made."
Klaus takes a step towards you, so you could feel his breath on your face.
"You knew that when you married me. It was all for show."
You took a step back, taking a deep breath, tears threatening to fall.
"So it meant nothing to you. All those restless nights where I held you in my arms and reassured you. All those spontaneous dates you took me on. All those glances and little moments we had. All that meant nothing?"
"Nope, it was all a show for your brothers so they would stop coming after me. But now, I'm not even on their radar."
You shook your head back and forth, taking more steps backwards.
"So then our unborn child means nothing to you?"
And then you see it, the moment of weakness behind his eyes. The way his face falls for a split second when the words come out of your mouth. But you also saw the wall go back up. The way his jaw clenches and his nails dig into the palm of his hand. And the slightest bit of regret in his eyes.
"No, none of it meant anything to me."
"Well, on that note, our alliance is over."
You turned around, walking out of the compound, your heart breaking.
***
"Listen Elijah, he wanted nothing to do with us 5 years ago and now he suddenly has an interest? It doesn't even make sense."
"It's not very sudden. He asks about both of you all the time."
You put your phone in between your shoulder and your ear, walking around the kitchen finishing dinner for you and your son.
"So why is he doing something about it now? He had the opportunity, multiple times."
"I don't know why my brother does what he does or why he does it when he does it, but I do know that he loves you."
You sighed, looking at your son who was playing around on the floor.
"He had his shot. He left me pregnant and alone after blindsiding me. He then showed up drunk on my doorstep a year later, saying he loved me and that he was wrong, and I was so overwhelmed from postpartum that I believed him and welcomed him into my home. And then he left the next morning without even a goodbye."
"He's troubled I know that, but he wants to get to know his son."
"He's had that opportunity too. Last year when I went to visit Rebekah and he tried to surprise her. But he was the one who was surprised when I opened the door with Miles sleeping in my arms. And then he left Elijah."
You wiped the tear that was under eye, taking the phone back into your hand.
"You never told me that."
"I didn't want to disappoint you again."
"Its never you that I'm disappointed in. It's my brother. You've never disappointed me. You stepped up and raised your son. On your own. That's the hardest job ever."
You smiled as your son climbed on your lap.
"I wasn't completely by myself. You, Rebekah, my brothers and even Marcel helped a lot. Plus, it was worth it."
"We weren't there the whole time though. You did it."
"Thanks Elijah."
You looked down at your son who was telling you he was hungry.
"I have to go, little man is ready for dinner."
"Alright, just consider meeting him. You never know what could happen."
"Bye Elijah."
***
You sat at a coffee shop, waiting for Klaus to arrive. He was supposed to be at the coffee shop almost 15 minutes ago and you were getting ready to leave. You stood up, collecting your stuff, when you saw Klaus walk in.
"Love, I'm so sorry. I got stuck in traffic-"
"Don't call me love. You're late Klaus. Don't make excuses."
You sat back down, watching as Klaus sat across from you.
"I wasn't ready to be a dad. I was barely passing as a husband. In fact, I failed as a husband."
"You did. But I wasn't ready to be a mom either. It was as much of a shock to me as it was to you."
"And I'm sorry. I screwed up. So bad. I let my self consciousness and my fear of abandonment control me and I just figured I may as well be the one to pull the plug instead of being the one who got screwed over. And then when you told me you were pregnant I was gonna drop the act but my own father popped into my head."
"Why weren't you just honest with me? You completely blindsided me and then acted as if I meant absolutely nothing to you."
"I self destructed like I always do. And I know that I sound like I'm making excuses and I don't want to do that, I'm just explaining what I was feeling. I was terrified of being my father since I was a young kid. And then when my mother turned us into vampires, it was completely out of the picture for me. So when you said you were pregnant, all those fears about being a dad were back and just intensified what I was already feeling."
"But you've seen me twice since then and you've done nothing. Both times my son was there."
"I was working on myself. I didn't want to come back to you until I was completely ready because I didn't want to hurt you or Miles. But it took so much longer then I thought but now I'm ready."
"You'll never be ready. It's impossible to be ready for parenthood. You've missed 5 years of his life."
"But I'm here now and I want to help. I want to know him."
"I don't know. I don't want you to flip how you feel again and then hurt him. He's a baby and I can't put him in a position where he can get hurt."
"I assure you that I will be there. I will be there for the rest of his life. For the rest of your life."
"He reminds me of you."
"Hm?"
"He loves to paint and draw. He's really good at it too. And he puts it up all over the house. And he has this great head of dirty blonde hair and loves to play with dogs. He got a lot from you even though you weren't there."
"Elijah and Rebekah have been telling me. You did a great job."
"Tuesday is the best day."
"For?"
"To meet him. He doesn't have school on Tuesday. We were gonna go to New York for the weekend to visit your sister, but I'll cancel. Tuesday is when he goes to a painting place and his favorite restaurant lets kids eat free."
"Thank you. There's one more thing I wanted to talk about."
"Ok."
"I miss you and ignoring you and being away from you is like inhaling wolfsbain and vervain in every breath. I shouldn't have done what I did but I know that now. I'm ready for you. I love you."
"It's gonna take time for me. And right now, I need you to focus on Miles. Because he's the most important thing in my life and he doesn't love change. And this transition has to be as smooth as possible and a relationship would complicate that. But in a few months, we can talk it over again."
"I can deal with that."