~•⚜️•~
1810
New Orleans
Imogen Farien Avery held the young Marcellus' hand in hers as they entered the Governor's home with Klaus Mikaelson, following closely behind them.
"Well, I see you've come to return some stolen property." The Governor told them.
Imogen smiled softly. "On the contrary, governor, the boy shall remain with me." she said with seriousness in her voice.
"Unfortunately, my lady he's not for sale."
Imogen caught Klaus' eye. Klaus smirked and walked closer to the Governor. "Well, we do not wish to buy him. You will grant him his freedom." he said.
"And if I say no?"
Imogen pushed the young Marcel behind her as Klaus simply quirk an eyebrow and grabbed the Governor in a choke-hold.
"You seem to have misinterpreted the matter as up for debate." Klaus said and squeezed the Governor's throat before glancing at the noirette. "As well as the lovely lady's intentions with the boy."
"Fine! Take him! He wasn't worth a damn to me anyway!"
Klaus lets the Governor go and smiled as he turned to Imogen, who smiled happily at him. The noirette took Marcel's hand and smiled down at him.
"Come, Marcellus."
Imogen and Marcel walked out of the mansion with Klaus following behind them.
"They tell me he is your father." Klaus said and stopped walking as Imogen and Marcel turned to him. "Is it true?"
Imogen gently placed her hands on Marcel's small shoulders as the young boy nodded.
"You know, my father hated me, too."
Klaus said and walked over to Marcel. "The truth is, Marcellus, family can be more than just those with whom we share blood. We can choose."
Imogen knelt in front of Marcel. "We'll be your family from now on, Marcellus." she said happily. "We'll love you and care for you as if our own."
Marcel's eyes widen as tears started to form under his eyes, touched by what Klaus and Imogen said. He jumped into the noirette's arms. "Mother!"
Imogen looked surprised for a moment before smiling happily. Marcel, realized what he said quickly pulled away and smiled apologetically.
"I am sorry."
Imogen shakes her head and tightly embraced him. "I'll be your mother from now on so call me that. My son." she said softly.
The young Marcel teared up as he placed his head on the noirette's chest. Klaus smiled fondly at the two.
~•~•~
The citizens of the French Quarter were all preparing themselves for Father Kieran's funeral service. A long line of community members and family made their way to Father Kieran's open casket to pay their respects.
Camille stood in front of her uncle's casket and stared at him as a tear ran down her face. Imogen, who was following behind her walked up to the blonde and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Camille smiled sadly at her before making her way towards her seat.
Imogen smiled sadly at Camille before looking at Father Keiran. She gently placed a white rose on his casket before closing it. She walked over to the blonde and kissed her cheek before sitting beside on the front pew.
Klaus arrived late, and by the time he reached the casket, everyone else at the service has already seated in the pews. He walked down the aisle and saw Imogen with Camille in front. He walked over to them and gave the noirette a kiss on the cheek. He turned to the blonde and smiled sadly at her before walking towards Father Keiran's closed casket to give his respects. However, when he opened the casket, Father Kieran was gone, and in his place was a baby girl.
The baby girl coos at him as he smiled fondly at her.
"Hi."
Klaus reached down to pick the baby up but before he can, something was plunged in his chest as blood poured from his mouth. He has been staked from behind with the indestructible white oak stake. When he turned around, Mikael stood behind him, grinning maniacally.
Mikael grabbed Klaus in a choke-hold. "Greetings, boy." he sneered at him.
Klaus noticed Imogen on the floor. Her once lively chocolatey brown eyes were now void of any emotion, her stomach was cut open as blood splattered everywhere. His eyes widen in horror at the sight of the woman he loves, dead and lifeless as tears ran down his face.
"NO!"
Klaus woke up with a start in his bedroom in the Abattoir compound. Imogen, who was sleeping beside him woke up as well and saw him gasping heavily with beads of sweat on his forehead.
Imogen quickly sat up and looked worriedly at him. "Nik! Oh, come here." she softly said and let Klaus lay back down on his bed and wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm here, Nik."
Klaus' dark blue eyes looked directly into Imogen's beautiful chocolatey brown eyes ones which was full of life unlike in his nightmare that it was lifeless. He sighed in great relief as he cupped her face with his hands and pressed his lips on hers.
Imogen kissed him back as their kissed took longer than expected. Klaus slowly pulled away with closed his eyes as he placed his forehead against the noirette's.
Imogen looked at him in worry and confusion. "Nik? Are you alright?" she asked.
Nik opened his eyes and nodded. "Just a nightmare, my love." he said.
Imogen shakes her head. "I think it's not just an ordinary nightmare."
Klaus stared at her before sighing. "A nightmare which felt so real." he said quietly.
Imogen smiled comfortingly. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.
"You were there." Klaus mumbled, having trouble continuing what he dreamt about.
"What happened to me?" Imogen asked.
Klaus looked frightened. "Mikael took the baby out from you and killed you."
Imogen's eyes widen in shock. "Mikael?"
Klaus has tears under his eyes. "He stakes me with the white oak stake and left me to stare at your lifeless body."
Imogen shakes her head and cupped Klaus' face with her hands. "I can't be killed, Nik." she said in an assuring tone. "Don't worry about me and our daughter. If something happens, I'll protect her with my life."
The noirette pressed her lips on Klaus for, yet, another long kiss. Klaus closed his eyes and kissed her back. The kiss was to assure him that she's fine, safe and pretty much alive.
~•~•~
The French Quarter was throwing an Irish-style wake in Father Keiran's honor at the Rousseau's, complete with Irish music, lots of alcohol, and tons of people who have gathered to share stories of the priests and celebrate his life.
Imogen Farien Avery and Hayley Marshall entered the Rousseau's for Father Keiran's wake. They looked around with furrowed eyebrows at the lively bar.
"Isn't this supposed be a wake? Why are they partying like it's Mardi Gras?" The noirette asked in confusion as Hayley shrugged.
"My thoughts exactly."
The two Labonairs turned and saw Camille smiling at them. Imogen sighed and tightly wrapped her arms around the blonde.
"Oh, Cami. If I knew what's happening with your uncle I could have helped." she said sadly.
Camille shakes her head. "No, don't be like that. Yes, you're a powerful witch but you're just beginning to be one. I heard about the bombing in the Bayou. I'm sorry." she said sadly.
Hayley forced out a smile. "That's over and we're fine." she assured her. "Just need to find who's responsible."
Camille smiled and turned to Imogen. "Klaus' here. He's been unusually quiet and less annoying. Did something happen?" she asked, confused.
Imogen eyes widen slightly before smiling at her. "I'll talk to him. Where is he?" she asked.
"At the table just across the bar counter." Camille told her.
Imogen smiled gratefully at her before walking around the bar to find Klaus sitting alone on a table with a glass of scotch. She smiled softly before sitting on a chair across from him.
"Still thinking about the nightmares?"
Klaus forced out a smile as he stared at his scotch. "Right as always, my love." he mumbled.
Imogen sighed and took his scotch away from him. "And drinking won't do." she said sternly.
Klaus sighed and looked at her. "My fears of fatherhood." he said as the noirette's eyes widen. "Of scarring our child as my father scarred me, are manifesting as nightmares. It's horrifically cliché."
Imogen grabbed Klaus' hand on top of the table and squeezed it. "I believe you won't be like Mikael. You won't do what he did to you. But if you do, you'll have to get through me and see what a mother could do to protect her child." she said.
Klaus smiled lovingly at the noirette. "Then, I should be more terrified of you than him." he joked.
Imogen shrugged with an amused look on her face. "Well, if we're being honest here, you really should be."
Klaus laughed as he brought the noirette's hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. He and Imogen shared a loving smile at each other.
Klaus noticed Marcel enter the bar and stared at him. Imogen looked behind her and saw her son looking at them. She smiled at him as Marcel smiled back.
Marcel looked away from his parents and took a glass and a bottle of alcohol and toast them together. The music died down as well as everyone's chattering and turned to Marcel.
"I know I haven't been around these parts lately. It's a testament to Father Kieran that we could come together and share a drink, and a story or two." Marcel started to say as Imogen noticed Camille and Hayley by the bar counter. "Kieran rolled into town on a rusty old cruiser after his daddy died twenty-five years ago. And damnit, that guy could party!" he and the people laughed. "That was, of course, before he took his vows. But, even then, he was committed to the Quarter. He knew that this town needed him. And, we still do." he raised his glass as the noirette noticed Camille was close to tears. "To Father K!"
"To Father K."
The party drinks in his honor and goes back to their festivities.
Klaus noticed Imogen's worried look. "Go to your friend, if you need me I'll be here." he said.
Imogen smiled at him and excused herself before quickly walking over to Camille and Hayley.
"Cami."
Camille was overwhelmed by the atmosphere as she turned to the noirette and smiled sadly at her before rushing into the back room. Imogen tried to run after her but Hayley stopped her.
"Imogen, don't. She wants to be alone. Let her."
Imogen looked at the direction Camille rush off to with a sad look on her face.
Hayley sighed. "We came here for another reason, Imogen."
Imogen's sad look turned to a blank and serious one as she turned to Hayley. "Of course." she mumbled as she noticed an upset Camille walked past them.
She and Hayley exchanged confused looks before turning to the back room and saw Francesca Correa, the leader of the human faction exits the back room and approached the bar. The two Labonairs narrowed their eyes at the woman before they turned and saw Elijah has joined Klaus at the table before walking over to them.
Elijah noticed the two women and smiled. "I will warn you, Hayley, Niklaus is in a spectacularly foul mood today." he said.
Imogen chuckled as she sat beside Klaus while Hayley sat beside Elijah.
Klaus glared at his older brother. "Sod off."
Imogen placed a hand over Klaus' and smiled softly at Elijah. "He'll be fine." she said.
"What's the deal with these moonlight rings?" Hayley asked. "Oliver's trying to set a revolution every five seconds. People are scared, angry, and frankly, I'm tired of stalling."
"It's a day of peace, Hayley. It's a ceasefire, if you call it. Try and enjoy it." Imogen said as Hayley sighed in frustration.
"The rings are in progress." Klaus told her with a frustrated look on his face. "I will live up to my promise to Imogen. We will find and punish whoever launched the attack on the Bayou. But, right now." he grabbed a bottle of scotch as Imogen sighed. "I'm gonna finish this bottle." he open the bottle as Imogen and Elijah exchange looks. "And the next, in the hopes of drowning the demon who has chosen today to haunt me." he looked up at the ceiling before chugging right from the bottle. "Cheers, Mikael. Impeccable, Freudian timing."
Imogen sighed and grabbed the bottle of scotch from Klaus' hand. "We've talked about this, Nik." she said sternly as Klaus groaned in annoyance.
Elijah looked stunned as Hayley stared at the three Mikaelsons in concern while Klaus tried to take the bottle of scotch from Imogen, who did a good job keeping it away from him.
"Elaborate." Elijah said and turned to Klaus, who continued trying to take his scotch from Imogen while the noirette continued keeping it away from him. "Have you dreamt of our father?"
"Go ahead, have a good laugh." Klaus said as he and Imogen continued to act like children.
"I can assure you there is no piece of this that I find even remotely amusing, Niklaus." Elijah said with seriousness in his voice as Klaus and Imogen turned to look at him. "Especially considering I've been dreaming of him, too."
Imogen and Klaus' eyes widen as they exchanged looks. "What?"
"If you are also seeing him, perhaps our elusive, unknown enemy is orchestrating a further attack?" Elijah asked as he and Klaus stood up.
Imogen and Hayley shared a look before standing up as well as they looked at Klaus and Elijah with smiles on their faces.
"So, you two are up to something but so do we."
~•~•~
Imogen and Hayley were sitting on front porch of Francesca Correa's house, waiting for Francesca and her bodyguard to return home. They saw Francesca walking towards her house, her attention on the phone with a smile on her face but when noticed the two women her smile disappeared and groaned.
"Ah. Imogen and Hayley, right?" Francesca said trying to be polite but both Imogen and Hayley ignored her politeness. "I'm guessing you two are not here because you want to make a new friend?"
"We don't count terrorists as friends." Hayley told her as she and Imogen stood up to face her.
"Wow. I've been accused of everything from grand larceny to blackmail, but terrorist, that's new!" Francesca said.
"A human pulled up to our home in the Bayou on a motorcycle and blew himself up." Hayley said and crossed her arms.
"I heard. Awful." Francesca said and held her hand out to her bodyguard, who handed her the keys to the house. "Goodnight!"
Francesca walked past Imogen and Hayley, who shared an annoyed look as Francesca's bodyguard placed a hand on their arms. Imogen turned him and forced out a smile as Hayley stepped back with a smirk on her face. The noirette head butts the bodyguard before slamming his head into a birdbath, knocking him out before turning to Francesca, who stared at her in shock for a moment before smiling fakely at her.
Hayley returned the fake smile. "Word on the street is, he owed a hundred grand to the Palace Royale casino and then, after he died, the debt was erased. Just like magic." she said.
"Jeff was a fixture at my roulette table. Sometimes he was up, sometimes he was down. I absolved his family of the debt he owed out of the goodness of my heart." Francesca explained.
Imogen raised an eyebrow at her while Hayley looked skeptical, and Francesca shrugged.
"Feel free to sniff around. My hands are clean." Francesca said and turned to the noirette, who quirk an eyebrow at her. "And, I'd advise you to mind your manners. It's lucky you're still alive. You're the one the wolves all whisper about like royalty. If I was interested in hurting the wolves, you'd be my target. And, when I go after someone? I don't miss."
Imogen smiled innocently. "Oh? Coincidence, same." she said happily before frowning and staring directly into her eyes.
Francesca's eyes widen as she started to feel pain in her head. She screamed in agony and she clutched her head as she fell to her knees.
"Gah! Stop it!"
Hayley leaned towards Francesca with a sarcastic smile on her face. "Here's an advise for you, don't mess with her." she said.
Imogen stopped using her powers on Francesca and she waved her hand. "Goodnight." she simply said.
The two Labonairs left Francesca on her porch with her unconscious bodyguard and walked down the street toward the compound. Unknown to the two, Monique Deveraux hid behind a tree far away from them as she cast a spell on Imogen and her baby and stabbing the stomach of the poppet representing her with a pin.
Imogen abruptly stopped walking and sensed something weird, some sort of spell casted on her as she instinctively placed her hands on her stomach. Hayley stopped walking as well and looked worriedly at her.
"Hey, you okay?"
Imogen turned to Hayley and smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry." she assured her and wrapped her coat around her tightly before she and Hayley continued walking home.
~•~•~
Hundreds of community members gather in the streets of the French Quarter after the funeral as Father Kieran's casket was placed in a horse carriage to begin the parade in his honor. The funeral procession walked down the street to the sounds of the jazz music being played, behind the priests acting as pallbearers for Father Kieran.
The Mikaelsons were present in the procession for Father Keiran. Klaus, Imogen, Elijah and Hayley stood side by side as they walked down the street. The noirette looked horribly sick and kept having coughing fits.
"You alright?" Elijah asked worriedly as he glanced at the sick looking mother to be. "You look---"
Imogen quirk an eyebrow at him. "A hundreds months pregnant and pissed off at the world?"
Klaus and Hayley looked at the noirette in amusement while Elijah smiled at her.
"I was going to say you look lovely."
Imogen sighed and rolled her eyes playfully. "Thanks, Elijah but let's be honest here, I look horrible, miserable and sick, which hasn't happened in centuries." she said.
Imogen, Klaus, Elijah and Hayley quietly chuckled, not wanting to interrupt the other mourners.
"I'm pretty sure it's just the baby making you sick, my love. Not to worry." Klaus assured the noirette as took her hand tightly with his.
Imogen smiled at him while Hayley noticed Francesca nearby, who was pretending to wipe tears from her face with a tissue.
"Do you think Imogen was the target of those bombings?" she asked the brothers, remembering what Francesca said to the noirette last night.
"Of course she was the target!" Klaus said as Imogen quirk an eyebrow at him. "Were I to wage a war on the wolves, she'd be my first kill. I would string her up, for all her worshipers to see."
Imogen turned to him with an innocent yet terrifying smile on her face before she harshly nudged him with her elbow. Klaus groaned in pain as he touched his side.
"You would do what to me?"
Klaus smiled apologetically and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Calm, my love. All of us here knows that I wouldn't dare do that to you." he said.
Imogen quirk an eyebrow at him. "Really?"
Klaus grinned as he wrapped his arm around Imogen and pulled her closer to him, leaving Hayley and Elijah standing awkwardly beside them.
"I was kidding, my love. You being pregnant with our child is turning you into a buzzkill. You used to be fun." Klaus said nonchalantly.
Imogen stared at him in disbelief as she crossed her arms. "Excuse me?"
Hayley hummed. "Is it? I think she's becoming badass." she told Klaus.
Imogen glanced at Hayley and smiled happily at her. "Love you, aunt to be."
Hayley winked at her. "Love you back, mommy to be."
The two women chuckled as Elijah looked fondly at them with a smile on his face while Klaus scowled at the brunette werewolf.
Klaus sighed and pulled looked Imogen closer to him. "Fine, fine. I'm sorry, my love. I was kidding. Let's just have a little laugh here. I bloody hate funerals." he mumbled.
Imogen smiled at Klaus before kissing his cheek. "Oh, Nik."
Hayley looked at Klaus. "Wait, hold on. I just wanted to clear this up, Klaus. So, you're not gonna run away anymore because of your fear becoming a father, right?" she asked.
Klaus sighed. "My father lived to torment me. It is not my intention to become him. This cycle of misery ends with our child." he said and looked lovingly at Imogen. "I'm not afraid."
Hayley looked pleased before noticing Camille walking near the front of the procession and turned to Imogen and grabbed her hand before running towards the blonde. Klaus glared at Hayley for taking his woman away from him while Elijah looked quite amused.
"Cami!"
Camille turned and saw Imogen and Hayley before smiling at them. "Imogen, Hayley, hi." she greeted the two.
Imogen smiled at her. "Hayley and I wanted to say," she started to say but coughed. "That we're sorry about your uncle."
Camille smiled at her as Hayley nodded. "He was really good to people like me during the storm, and I really appreciated that." she added.
"Thank you." Camille said and looked at the brunette, realizing something. "You want something, do you?"
Imogen chuckled as Hayley smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry about the timing. I was just wondering, if before he died, he said anything weird about Francesca Correa? I think that she may have been involved in an attack in the Bayou."
Camille smiled as she nodded. "I'm trying, mostly failing, to stay out of all this stuff but for Imogen." she said and looked at her friend, who smiled at her. "Francesca's a real bitch. So, yeah, if I hear anything, I'll let you know."
"Thanks. And again, sorry about your uncle." Hayley said.
"You, too."
Feeling very sick, Imogen walked away from the two as she started to cough again and it was getting worse. She looked woozy as she leaned against a lightpost and began to cough up blood. She stared at her blood in her hands in horror as she continued to cough.
Hayley turned to check on Imogen and saw her condition as her eyes widen in worry. "Elijah!" she yelled for help.
Genevieve, who was nearby and also noticed Imogen's condition, eyes widen in shock. "Klaus!" she yelled for the noirette's lover.
Klaus and Elijah quickly turned hearing their names being called out and their eyes widen when they saw Imogen collapsed on the sidewalk.
"My love!"
"Farien!"
With worry in their eyes, Klaus and Elijah rushed towards an unconscious Imogen, who were surrounded by a worried Hayley and Genevieve.
"No!" Klaus yelled as he carried the noirette in his arms.
~•~•~
Hayley, Elijah and Klaus, who was carrying Imogen, rushed into the compound. Hayley quickly cleared a nearby table while Elijah placed his hand underneath Imogen's head as Klaus laid the noirette on the table. Genevieve was with them, in hopes of helping her friend.
The redhead looked worried. "I can help---"
Elijah and Hayley quickly pushed her away from Imogen, their protectiveness with the noirette showing.
"Don't you touch her!"
"Stay away from her witch!"
Klaus glanced at the two. "Let it be, Hayley, Elijah. She was a nurse." he said and looked worriedly at Imogen.
"There's a spell I can do." Genevieve said looked at Hayley. "Hayley get chamomile from the pantry."
Hayley nodded at her and quickly left as Genevieve looked at Imogen, who was barely unconscious.
"She's trembling. Your jacket, Elijah."
Elijah quickly took off his jacket as he stared worriedly at the Imogen. "She's breathing but I can barely hear the baby's heartbeat." he said and looked at Klaus.
Klaus' eyes widen in fear. "No, no,no! No! Our daughter!" he yelled loudly.
Imogen woke up with a start. She quickly sat up and found herself on a table in the courtyard of the compound. She looked around but it was completely empty. Her eyes widen as she realized where she was.
"I'm at The Other Side." she mumbled in horror. "It can't be. I'm dead?"
"Quite contrary, child."
Imogen's eyes widen in horror as she turned and gasped in shock seeing Mikael standing behind her. "Mikael." she mumbled and quickly got off the table.
Mikael smiled softly at her. "You're not dead. You're not supposed to."
Hayley returned with the chamomile as Genevieve quickly took it from her and pressed damp bundle of chamomile against Imogen's forehead and chants a spell.
"Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen. Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen."
Klaus, worried, frustrated and scared, bit into his wrist and dribbled in into Imogen's mouth in hopes that it will heal her. "Come on, my love! Please! Please!" he yelled pleadingly as tears formed under his eyes and looked at Elijah in fear when nothing happened.
Elijah felt scared for Imogen's life and her baby's. "She's barely breathing and so is her baby! It's not working!" he yelled as he angrily threw a nearby table against the brick wall, shattering it into pieces.
Hayley flinched in surprise as he stared worriedly at the older Mikaelson. "Elijah!"
Imogen slowly backed away, frightened as Mikael approached her.
"I can't be here." The noirette mumbled horrified.
"Welcome to my hell, child, stuck in an eternity of watching over that hideous creature that you call lover!" Mikael said angrily.
"What am I doing here, Mikael?" Imogen asked as Mikael smirked. Her eyes widen as she looked down at her pregnant stomach. "No, no, no! No! My baby!"
"The baby? That kid never had a chance! You merging it with Klaus' filthy blood? You poisoned it." Mikael said and laughed manically. "The deathless vermin, fancying himself a daddy?"
Imogen shriek in anger as her chocolatey brown eyes turned to lupine-gold. She rushed towards Mikael and breaks his arm by twisting it behind his back. As Mikael was distracted by screaming in pain, she picked up a metal pole nearby and swung it at his head with all the force she can muster.
Imogen glared at Mikael, who fell on the ground. "If I'm not dead, hell she's not either!" she yelled at him.
Both Klaus, Elijah and Hayley were pacing beside Imogen as Genevieve continued to work her spell on her.
"Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen."
Elijah stood beside Imogen's body. "I'm taking her to a real doctor." he said and tried to move the noirette.
Genevieve glared at him. "If you move her from here, my spell will break. There won't be enough time to get her to a hospital." she said.
Hayley glared at the her. "If this continues Imogen's baby will die! And if her daughter's dead, she'd wish she is too." she said loudly with panic in her voice. "I'm not letting it happen!"
Klaus eyes widen in fear and looked at Genevieve. "I won't lose my woman and my daughter!" he yelled.
Elijah narrowed his eyes at the witch. "I won't lose either of them!" he yelled as well.
"battre avec mwen. Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen."
Genevieve saw a vision of Monique using the poppet to cast the spell on Imogen and her baby. She gasped, stunned. "I know what to do. Get my bag, the gris-gris pouch! Now!" she yelled with urgency in her voice.
Imogen watched as Mikael stood up from the ground. "You're dead, Mikael. Nik already beat you. Your son already killed you!" she yelled at him.
Mikael looked furious. "He is not my son! He's a scourge, a walking symbol of weakness!" he bellowed.
Imogen glared at him. "Say whatever you want! You'll never bring him down, I won't let you!" she said she kicked at the banister to the staircase to break off a piece of wood to use it as a stake, and quickly makes her way up the stairs as Mikael stalked his way over to her.
"There is no saving that atrocity festering in your womb. Better it dies now!" Mikael said and jumped up onto the second floor balcony, startling Imogen.
"Don't you even dare lay a finger on my baby, you, you vicious monster!"
Genevieve poured salt around Imogen on the table and crushed some herbs with her fingers and spreads them over the noirette's body.
Imogen gracefully jumped down, as she did so she waved her hand towards the second floor as it exploded. Mikael yelled as he was thrown away. The noirette landed safely onto the first floor as Mikael quickly got up. She rushed behind him, stabbing him in the heart with the stake from behind as he yelled in pain.
"My daughter has an advantage Nik never had, she will never, ever know you!" Imogen yelled angrily and harshly kicked Mikael away from her.
Imogen woke with a loud gasp on the table and everyone looked relieved as if something heavy has lifted from their shoulders. Elijah and Hayley helped her up as Klaus rubbed her cheek affectionately.
"You're alright, my love. You're alright."
Imogen looked frightened. "I saw him. He tried to kill my baby." she said quietly and turned to Klaus. "I saw Mikael."
Klaus looked furious at the thought of his father trying to harm his daughter while Elijah looked shock as they stared at the frightened Imogen.
At The Other Side, Mikael groaned as he was magically thrown backwards.
"Don't you dare try to harm Imogen again!"
Mikael looked up and scowled when he saw his third born son with furious look on his face.
~•~•~
Imogen was resting on her bed with her eyes close when she felt Klaus' presence enter her room and sat beside her.
"My love."
Imogen slowly opened her eyes and turned to Klaus as she smiled at him.
"Nik."
Klaus smiled softly as he took noirette's hand and kissed her knuckles. "How are my girls?" he asked.
Imogen chuckled softy. "We're fine."
"You've proved quite resilient, my queen. Fighters, both of you." Klaus said with a proud look on his face.
"We have to be." Imogen mumbled and forced out a smile. "Especially lately."
Klaus sighed softly. "Come with me, hmm? I want to show you something."
Imogen furrowed her eyebrows as Klaus helped her up. "What is it?" she asked.
Klaus grinned. "I have a surprise for you." he said.
Klaus wrapped his arm around Imogen's waist as they walked towards the door that Imogen didn't notice before. He smiled as he opened the door and letting the noirette in.
Imogen stepped inside the room and looked in shock as she takes everything in. The room was already set up to be a nursery, complete with a crib, a bassinet, and a gorgeous mobile hanging from the ceiling, among other things. Tears formed under the noirette's eyes and ran down her face as she looked around.
"Nik?"
Klaus stood beside Imogen and smiled lovingly at her. "Our daughter should be raised by her parents, in her family home." he said with gentleness in his voice.
Imogen turned to Klaus and looked at him with amusement. "You, me, Elijah, Hayley and the miracle-baby all under one roof? Sounds like a bad reality show." she joked and chuckled.
The noirette stopped when she saw Klaus looking at her with a troubled face. "What's wrong, Nik?" she asked.
"You said you saw Mikael. What did he say to you?" Klaus asked quietly.
"Nothing true." Imogen said as she smiled warmly at him.
Klaus looked lovingly at her as he wrapped his arms around her before they look around the room with smiles on their faces.
"I love it, Nik." Imogen mumbled as she placed her head on Klaus' chest.
Klaus hummed. "It was supposed be a surprise after you give birth but after what happened today, almost the baby, I just have to." he explained.
Imogen looked at the wall and saw Klaus has hung two paintings. The one he made of New Orleans, which was a cityscape at night with a large full moon painted in the sky above the buildings. The other one was of Imogen, which she was standing on the rooftop filled with white rose bushes and a large full moon above her head.
"You won't lose us, Nik. Never."
"Farien's getting tougher and tougher each day. Her fierceness is very admirable. But I worry that her protectiveness for her baby will finally trigger her, her aggressive side. If she does when the baby arrives, she will turn, she will transform with the full moon. Now, I would like to create for her a gift, a ring of empowerment, something to control that aggressive side of her. Now, why am I doing this? I am just making sure she's safe from this curse, from herself."
Imogen was sitting in a rocking chair in the baby's room as she writes a letter. Klaus entered the room and leaned in the doorway with a teasing smile on his face but his eyes were full of love directed towards the stunning noirette.
"Writing a love letter to me or to one of your many suitors?"
Imogen looked up and chuckled. "Who knows?"
Klaus raised an eyebrow, slightly feeling jealous to the other men in Imogen's life. "So, who's the lucky recipient, then? Jackson? Or Elijah? Definitely, it's me, is it?"
Imogen and Klaus laughed as the noirette shakes her head in disbelief. "And the award for "The World's Biggest Ego" goes to you." she said, gesturing to Klaus and teasingly smiled at him. "Don't be too full of yourself, Nik. We're having a baby together but we're not married. I can be with anyone I want."
Klaus abruptly stopped laughing as eyes were filled with jealousy and his face frowned unpleasantly. "What?"
Imogen chuckled in amusement with Klaus' face. "I'm teasing, Nik. Relax." she said softly.
Klaus looked lovingly at Imogen as he walked over to her and got down in front of her with one bended knee. The noirette stared at him with confusion.
"Nik?"
"Right here, right now, I'm pledging my love to you Imogen Farien Labonair-Avery." Klaus said sincerely and took a ring from his pocket.
Imogen's eyes widen in shock, staring at the ring in Klaus' hand. It was his daylight ring.
"Oh, Nik, your daylight ring."
Klaus glanced at his ring and smiled at her. "I'll put this simply and less cliché as I could." he said softly and took a deep breath before looking directly into the noirette's chocolatey brown eyes.
"I want to marry you, Imogen. But I know you aren't ready, especially now that we're expecting a mini-you."
Klaus gently placed his daylight ring on Imogen's left ring finger and looked at the noirette with so much love in his eyes.
"I'm jealous of the men that I share you with these past centuries until now. Dead and alive. Finn, my older brother, the man who secretly likes you. Kol, my younger brother, the man who loves you sincerely. Lucien, the servant boy, who loves and cares deeply for you. Tristan, the nobleman, the man who was so infatuated with you. Stefan, the ripper, the man who still loves you. Elijah, my other older brother, the man who has done nothing but be true to you. Jackson, the Alpha of the Crescent pack, the man who would do anything for you."
Imogen smiled in amusement as she stared at the jealous looking Klaus, who scowled at the few names of the man he said in the noirette's life.
"Maybe one of them will return into your life and maybe take you away from me and maybe you'll love one of them in return."
Klaus sighed and took the noirette's hands with his as he caressed his daylight ring on her finger.
"But I know this much, I love you Imogen. I will always love you and forever cherish this feeling. I'll wait until you tell me that I'm your Always and Forever."
Imogen looked at Klaus with love in her eyes as she smiled warmly at him. "Oh, Nik." she mumbled his name and leaned to kiss him when suddenly she groaned as the baby started to kick. "Oh!"
Klaus looked disappointed when he didn't received Imogen's kiss but there was concern in his eyes. "How is my littlest love?" he asked.
"Why don't you find out yourself?" Imogen told him with a warm smile on her face.
Klaus reached out and touched her abdomen. He was startled when he felt the baby's kicks.
Imogen chuckled. "You feel that? It's her." she told him.
Klaus and Imogen laugh in amazement as the baby continues to kick.
"Is she supposed to kick this much?" Klaus asked, amused.
Imogen chuckled and stared at the man her baby will call her father with a fond look on her face before she became serious.
"Nik? I have to tell you something very important."
Klaus noticed the seriousness in Imogen's voice and looked at her. "What is it, my love?" he asked with worry in his voice.
"The day I'm giving birth to our daughter, I won't be as powerful as I used to be. But only for a moment. My pregnancy made me vulnerable but my most vulnerable state is the moment I give birth." Imogen explained.
Klaus frowned. "Are you telling me---"
"I can't protect myself if something happens to me, Nik." Imogen quickly said.
Klaus' eyes widen in shock before looking determined and a smirk made its way on his face. "No worries, my love. That's what I'm here for. I'll protect you from any harm that comes your way. You have my word."
Imogen chuckled. "You sound just like Elijah, Nik." she teased. "So what comes next? A suit?"
Klaus rolled his eyes at the noirette and noticed her unfinished love letter as he stood up. "Right! I've been holding you up with your secret love letter. I'll leave you to it then!" he said and pressed his lips on the noirette's before leaving the room.
Imogen looked lovingly at Klaus before looking down at her left hand, where Klaus' daylight ring was perfectly fitted on her ring finger. She looked down at her letter and smiled fondly at it before continuing writing.
"Now, where was I? Oh right! To my little hope, to my little love....."