2 Weeks Later
Stefan's POV
It's time for Hope to begin school tomorrow and I'm nervous as hell right now. What if she doesn't fit in? What if she uses magic without realizing it? What if the other kids tease her? What if she doesn't make any friends because she's different?
Bonnie has been teaching her magic these past two weeks, but I'm still worried. Plus, I'll miss having my little girl around in the morning bugging me for banana-chocolate chip pancakes and at twelve bugging me for chicken nuggets.
I get interrupted out of my thoughts by hearing the door swing open. I see Caroline walk in very happy. She says, excitedly "look what I bought for Hope; an Olaf book bag!" I laugh and smile at her excitement.
She asks "where is she?" I call up for Hope and say "Hope, come down sweetie. Auntie C has a present for you." The minute she heard the word present, she ran down here.
Hope comes into view and smiles widely, saying "hey, auntie C! What did you get me?" And Caroline says "see for yourself." She brings the book bag into view and Hope gasps excitedly and exclaims "Olaf!" She hugs the book bag and I smile at that.
Hope runs and hugs Caroline. I state sternly "Hope? What do you say to Caroline?" Hope says "oh right! Thank you, auntie Care-bear." Caroline says "you're welcome! I also got you a little something else; it's in the backpack."
Hope looks inside and gasps excitedly and pulls out a Lion King coloring book. Hope says, excited "The Lion King coloring book!" Caroline says "just so you can have a coloring book to yourself."
Hope squeals and gives Caroline another hug and pulls away and says while jumping up and down excitedly "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You, again, Auntie Care-bear!" She smiles and says "you're welcome, Hope."
Hope smiles and I say "Hope, it's eight o'clock; time for bed." She frowns and asks "since when is my bedtime eight o'clock?" And I say "since it's a school night." She frowns even more and says "but Daddy S, I don't want to."
I say "sorry Hope! That's how school works. Now go on and get ready for bed." She pouts and crosses her arms, not moving from the spot she's in. I frown and demand firmly "Hope now!"
She challenges me. She's so much like Klaus; she loves to be alpha. But she needs to understand that I'm the one in charge right now. I fold my arms and give her a stern look.
Her pout falls to a sad frown and she looks down and whimpers a little "okay. I'm sorry Daddy." I sigh and say "just go on and get ready for bed, little one." Hope nods her head and goes upstairs to get ready and I sigh in exhaustion.
When I turn around, I see Caroline, mom, and momma G standing there smiling. I forgot Caroline was still here, but mom and momma G always come over and play with Hope and spend time with her.
Hope calls mom, Grammy Lily and momma G, Grammy G. She has nicknames for EVERYONE except Damon, Tyler, and Elena-- of course. She senses they don't like her and after Damon's performance two weeks ago, she knows he doesn't like her. I'm still angry with him about that.
Mom says "wow! She's a real handful sometimes." I sigh and say "yep, she sure is. She is a little like Klaus. Most of the time it's in a good way." I walk into the dining room and pull out a chair and sit down. They come join me.
Caroline states "she sure is special." I smile and say "yeah, she is." My smile falls thinking about the day Klaus and Hayley will come to get Hope and take her away from me.
Momma G asks "what's wrong?" I sigh sadly and say "just thinking about the day Klaus and Hayley will come and take Hope back." They frown a little too thinking about that. I just say "well, there will be nothing I can really do. They are her parents."
Mom says "well, you are just as much her parent as they are. When they eventually do, they have to let you still be a part of her life. They can't just have you look after her all these years and raise her as your own without expecting you to still be in her life. You raised her! They may have made her, but you raised her! That cheery little girl upstairs? You did that, not them. She is more aware of you, Stefan! Every nightmare, you were there to calm her. Every time she got hurt, you were there to heal her. You were there for her since she was a baby. How do you think she will act when she one day wakes up and sees you not there by her side?"
Momma G and Caroline nod their heads agreeing with her and I think over her words, but I get interrupted by hearing Hope say "Daddy S, I'm ready! Come tuck me in." I smile hearing her call for me to tuck her in.
I look back to mom, momma G, and Caroline and they smile. Momma G says "go on and tuck her in. We'll show ourselves out." I smile at them and they get up and leave. I go to Hope and tuck her in and read her the bedtime story.
When she's fallen asleep, I kiss her forehead, get up, and turn off her light and close the door. I go to my room and get dressed into my pajamas and go to bed. Tomorrow my little girl starts school for the first time. I hope she fits in and makes friends and doesn't use magic.
Tomorrow Morning
I'm making chocolate chip-banana pancakes for me, Hope, mom, momma G, Caroline, Matt, Ric, Jo, Jontae, Kayla, Erin, Shontae, Savannah, Bonnie, Kai, and Greg. They are all coming to see Hope go to school on her first day.
Speaking of the Devils, they are here. They just walked through the door and into the kitchen. Food is ready and I put the pancakes and bacon on the table and butter and whip cream. Afterwards, I go get Hope.
Third Person
Everyone is excited to come and see Hope go to school. Stefan brings Hope down with her in his arms. She rubs her eyes and wraps her arms around his neck and nuzzles into the crook of his neck saying "Daddy S, I'm tired! I wanna go back to sleep."
Stefan says "sorry Hope, this is how school works." She huffs and says "I'm no longer excited about school." Everyone laughs at that comment, but Hope suddenly lifts her head up in excitement when she smells her favorite, banana-chocolate chip pancakes with bacon.
Hope squeals then wiggles out of Stefan's arms and runs to her plate that was already made. She puts syrup on it and a spoon of whip cream and stabs her fork in the pancake. She starts eating it and everyone finds how much she loves pancakes adoring and amusing.
After ten minutes of eating, Stefan says "okay, Hope! Time for school; go get dressed." She nods her head in excitement and goes to get dressed. She's very excited for her first day, while Stefan is a little nervous.
Jontae says "well, she looks ready for this, but are you?" Stefan looks towards Jontae then at everyone-- who is wondering the same thing. Stefan says "yeah! Yeah, I am. I mean, she's just growing up so fast."
Kayla says "it may seem that way, but trust me Stef, you're not there yet. She still has a long way to go." Stefan says "she's going to be five next week." Everyone widens their eyes and gapes in shock. They didn't know her birthday was coming by so fast. Hell, they didn't even know when her birthday was.
Erin says "wow! Really?" Stefan nods his head and Shontae asks "well gee, when were you going to tell us?" Caroline says "yeah! We have to throw her a little family birthday get together." Stefan actually agrees with her.
For Hope's birthday it was always just the two of them, but now she has a family here that loves her excluding Tyler, Elena, and Damon. Hope runs downstairs with her hair down and in her cute little uniform and Olaf backpack.
Hope exclaims in excitement "I'm ready Daddy S! Come on!" She is so excited, she can't wait to go and make some friends. Stefan walks up to her then bends on his knees in front of her and says "okay! But tell me our number one rule again."
Hope sighs and says, dramatically "NO! Using! Magic!" Stefan smiles and says "good! Do you promise me you won't?" Hope nods her head and says "I promise, Daddy S." She hugs him and he hugs her back. Everyone is behind them, smiling at the scene in front of them.
Stefan and Hope pull away and Stefan says "alright, let's go." Hope runs to the car excited and Stefan walks to the car with everyone behind them. Everyone including Stefan is shocked to see Hope is already in the car with her seatbelt on.
Stefan asks in a stern tone "Hope? Did you use magic to open the car?" She says, innocently "we're in a hurry Daddy S." He playfully rolls his eyes and gets into the driver's seat.
Hope hears her Grammy Lily say "be yourself, sweetie!" And then her Grammy G says "make friends, and don't hurt any guys who try to kiss you." Lily laughs knowing Gracie only said that to see what Stefan would do.
Hope scrunched her face in disgust while Stefan says protectively and sternly "no boy will be kissing her." Everyone tries to hold in their laughs by covering their mouths with their hands. Stefan drives off, ignoring their laughter and driving to Hope's school. Before he pulls off, he swore he heard Caroline and Erin talking about planning Hope's birthday party.
Ten minutes later, he's finally at the school. He goes to Hope and gets her out of the car. Hope gets down in excitement. Her and Stefan walk in and the teacher comes up to them.
Right now, all the excitement Hope felt was replaced with shyness. She hid behind Stefan and held onto his legs. Stefan smiled at her and the teacher says with an accent while holding out her hand "hi! I am, Mrs. Amelia Johnson. This must be Hope Salvatore." Stefan shakes it and says "hello!"
They let go and he looks behind him and sees Hope still hiding. He says "Hope! Come on, don't be shy. Say hello and tell the nice lady your name." Hope peeks out and says lowly, but was still able to hear her "hi, I'm Hope!" And Mrs. Johnson says "well, hello Hope! I promise you this is going to be a great and fun year."
Hope smiles and comes from behind Stefan, no longer feeling shy; she was happy again. Stefan bends down on his knees in front of Hope and says "okay Hope, I have to go now and let you learn."
Hope's eyes widen and she wraps her arms around Stefan's neck and clings onto him likes she's holding onto him for dear life. She says, fearing Stefan leaving her "no Daddy, don't leave me!"
Stefan hugs her back tightly too and says "hey, it's okay. I'll be back here by 3 o'clock. I promise when I come get you we will go home, watch movies, eat chicken nuggets, and ice cream. But right now, you need to go and be a big girl now, okay?"
She still doesn't like the fact of him leaving her, but she knows he'll be back and will keep his promise. She says "okay, I love daddy!" She kisses his cheek and Stefan smiles even more and says "I love you too, baby girl."
Stefan kisses her forehead and Hope goes with Mrs. Johnson to the class and Stefan watches after her. Moments later, he leaves and goes back to the Mikaelson mansion.
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Hope has made five friends already; Alston and Aiden-- twin brothers, Monica, Malcolm, and Drake. They all became fast friends; they hanged out, worked together, and played outside with one another.
Hope had so much fun on her first day that she didn't even notice that it was already time to go. Stefan walks into the classroom and looks over to Hope and smiles seeing her talking and socializing with her new friends.
Hope looks in his direction and smiles seeing him. She runs to him and hugs him and she says "daddy, I had a fun first day!" And Stefan says "I see that! Are you ready to go?" She nods her head and they leave and go to the car.
When they get home, Stefan makes chicken nuggets and french fries for him and Hope. When it's ready, he puts five chicken nuggets on a plate for Hope and five on a plate for him. He just grabs a handful of fries for each of them, then he puts on a movie for the both of them to watch.
He puts on Matilda and they watch it together. When they're done eating, Stefan gets them some ice cream. After Matilda, they watch two other movies together.
When they're done, Stefan notices Hope has fallen asleep. He takes her upstairs to bed and tucks her in. He kisses her cheek and watches her sleep for a minute then goes to his room and goes to sleep himself.