"Look, brother, I understand that you don't trust them, but― "
"Exactly. You know that I don't trust them, nor will I ever trust them. So there is really no use in you trying to persuade me that this is a good idea, brother." Klaus spoke angrily to Elijah, whipping around to face him after walking the compound.
"Niklaus, this isn't about you. This is about her and her future. She needs to develop some social skills at a young age or else her future social skills will be at a disadvantage!" Elijah argued, holding up three pamphlets. "The school day for the children is a mere few hours at most, and all of the facilities are within a three mile radius. Somewhere we can be in no time."
"Unless one of our many enemies decides to track her down whilst she's sharing filthy toys with other children and kills her before we even get the chance to step foot out the door."
"Easy. We compel the teachers not to let any other adult near Darla unless it is us."
"Ah, yes, Elijah, because the humans can put up such a fight against vampires, werewolves, witches, and everything in between."
"Well Darla seems to be doing just fine with us."
"Because we are her family, and we would sooner die than have her get hurt."
"Exactly! You see, brother? That is exactly the point! With us as her family, no one is to ever step out of line in her presence."
"Elijah is right, Nik," Rebekah added on, making the dark haired Original smile and the blonde hybrid grow cross. "Darla needs this. And as much as I hate the idea of her gallivanting about, unsupervised by half-wit teachers, one of the main points in all of those baby books you have is to socialize your baby."
"I refuse to exploit my daughter for the happiness of other children."
"You're not exploiting her, Nik!" Rebekah sighed, meeting them downstairs. "We're trying to get her used to being around other children so that concept isn't a total culture shock when she's old enough to go to proper school!"
Klaus whipped around and glared at his sister, not believing she could be so dim as to believe that he was going to send his baby girl to public school, where any threat can hurt her with ease.
"Niklaus, look at it this way," Elijah spoke up, noticing the way that he was looking at their sister. "Whilst she is at daycare, we can all take care of the business that results in us getting... well, bloody, without worrying about her getting caught in the crossfire."
"Don't you understand, brother?!" Klaus shouted, quieting down as he remembered his Darla Hope was just upstairs, sleeping. "She will always be caught in the crossfire as long as she is a part of this family. Her life was put in danger the second I brought her through that front door, and there is no one I trust with her life other than myself. I have the power to protect her, can't you see? I can save her if something ever happens, and I am sorry if some humans can't do that."
They were all silent for a while, the only sound heard was the sound of Darla's heartbeat from upstairs. The thing that they all listened to in case of hostile situations like so. It was the thing that brought them all together, and the thing that tore them apart all the same.
"You're right." Rebekah said, tears forming in her eyes. "You are the only one that can protect her. But you're also the one that is going to have to explain to her why she can't go outside and play with the other children, or why she can't have any friends, or why she is locked up in a damn tower all her life, watching the world from the outside, looking in. She can't live in fear of what is to come or of who wants her dead before her life has already begun, Niklaus. We of all people should know how that feels. But if you want to keep her as a prisoner for the rest of her life, be my guest."
And with that, Rebekah sped out of the compound, leaving the brothers alone with one another. Klaus sighed and walked toward his brother, snatching the pamphlets out of his hands, and walking upstairs to read them and research them thoroughly.
"Thank God for your theatrics, sister," Elijah chuckled to himself with a smile. "Always brother's biggest weakness."