"I cannot believe you disposed of those vampires without me," Rebekah complained with a childish pout after Klaus walked through the front door. "You know how I love to set things on fire!"

"Was I supposed to leave them in the front yard to rot?" Klaus questioned deviously and smirked over at her. "Besides, they were my responsibility. They attacked my wife!"

Rebekah rolled her eyes then mused sarcastically. "Oh, I am so moved by your new-found sense of fatherly duties towards the human carrying your hybrid bun in her oven."

"Speaking of whom---" Valentina commented when she joined them from the foyer. "Is curious where we are in the plan right now."

"Well, that depends what plan you mean, my Valentine --- my plan for global domination, or Rebekah's plan to find love in a cruel, cruel world?" Klaus mocked his sister causing f her to grab a pencil from the desk and launch it in Klaus' direction. He caught it with ease before it could strike him in the face.

"Yeah." Valentina breathed out, not in the slightest surprised by their bickering. "I was referring to Elijah. Do we have a plan to get him back from your quote "mortal enemy"?"

"Okay. Well, firstly, Marcel is not my mortal enemy-- he's my friend." Klaus corrected as he walked into his study and sat down in one of the armchairs. "Albeit one who is unaware that I'm trying to sabotage his hold over the supernatural community of the French Quarter, but a friend nonetheless. And secondly, I daggered Elijah in order to gain Marcel's trust. If I had known he would place my brother in the hands of a particularly nasty teenage witch, I certainly would have weighed my options a bit differently. And thirdly--" He turned to Rebekah and gestured for her to speak. "-- Sister, please."

"And thirdly, the plan is for Niklaus to simply ask Marcel for Elijah back." Rebekah finished simply.

Valentina glanced between them, waiting to hear more, then narrowed her green eyes when it was clear that they were done. "So... that's it?"

"Please!" Rebekah scoffed indignantly and rolled her eyes over at the hybrid. "Klaus may be a miserable excuse for a sibling, but there is none more diabolical."

"And that's only the plan A, love. There's always a plan B." He commented with a nonchalant shrug.

"Which is...?" Valentina drew out curiously.

"War." He replied with an overjoyed smirk.

"Ah. Yes. I should've guessed." Valentina mused slowly as she strolled over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well is there any time between plan A and plan B for you to come with me to an ultrasound appointment today?"

Klaus placed his hands on either side of her hips and shifted her body so she stood in between his legs. He rested his chin on the top of her baby bump, closing his eyes at the peaceful sound of their heartbeats melding together in harmony. "I will make the time." He offered without hesitation then looked up at her through his eyelashes. "When is it?"

"One." She answered from memory. Valentina tangled her fingers in his blond curls, smoothing them down while admiring her husband with a wide smile.

"Okay. Sophie will be here in an hour then I'm all yours until Marcel's party tonight." He remarked affectionately and accepted the comfort that washed over him from her touch.

"There, um... there was something I wanted to talk to you about but it can wait until after we go." She said vaguely then wiggled her shoulders in excitement. "Today's appointment is important and I don't want anything ruining it. We get to find out the sex of the baby today."

"Already?" Rebekah gasped in surprise causing them to look at her again, having forgotten she was still standing there.

"Yeah." Valentina nodded curtly and removed a hand from Klaus' head so she could rest it on her abdomen. "I'm actually behind. I'm twenty weeks as of yesterday. They said anywhere between eighteen and twenty-one weeks. I was just super anxious about it so I've been putting it off."

Klaus pressed his pursed lips against her abdomen, affectionately kissing the baby bump. "And I can't wait to be there for it."

"I love you." Valentina declared emotionally, a soft sniffle breaking through her nostrils with the tears that threatened to spill.

He grabbed her hands in his, kissed her palms, placed them on his face, and smiled widely. "I love you."

An hour later, Sophie arrived at the mansion as planned and they all gathered in the study to discuss Klaus' idea.

"Are you out of your mind?" Sophie gaped at them Mikaelsons incredulously. "No way. "

"It's very simple-We need you to perform a teeny, tiny locator spell to help us find our brother," Rebekah replied as she paced the floor in front of the witch.

"Witches who practice magic in this town get caught, and then they get killed." Sophie reminded them.

"Yes, about that. It seems you left out a crucial detail when we made our deal-" Klaus began as he lowered himself into a chair across from her and smirked deviously. "Marcel's secret weapon, the way he knows when a witch is using magic..."

"Girl about yea high, cute as a button, anger issues?" Rebekah described the teenage witch who easily tossed her around before she could pull the dagger out of Elijah.

Sophie looked shocked at the mention of her. "Davina? W---where have you seen her?"

"I don't know. The little brat erased my memory right after she threw me out a window with her bloody mind." The blonde sneered in aggravation.

"Let me cut to the chase," Klaus spoke up again, leaning forward in his chair and tapping his fingertips together. "Davina has Elijah. You witches, I assume, want to get Davina away from Marcel. We don't know where she is. Ergo, we need magic."

Sophie turned to look at him with a shake of her head. "Davina would sense it."

"Unless, of course, another witch-- say, a traitor to the cause, Katie for example-- was to perform much more powerful magic at the same time. That would create a smokescreen, concealing your very small spell from Davina." Rebekah proposed their plan.

She seemed to ponder this for a moment. "Katie doesn't deserve to die." Sophie rejected the idea, her face scrunched up in disbelief.

"Sophie Deveraux!" Klaus angrily slammed his hands on the table causing Valentina to jump slightly in her chair. He shot her an apologetic look from the corner of his eye then stood up from his seat and walked over to sit on the coffee table in front of the witch. "You're in no position to be so principled. You can't win a war without a few strategic losses, no matter how regrettable they may be. How many times have the vampires been one step ahead, known something they shouldn't? Your sister, executed in the public square for practicing magic-who knew she'd be caught? Did she even attempt to flee?"

"She was caught hiding in a cargo hold of a freighter before it set sail down the Mississippi," Sophie answered through a clenched jaw, her eyes staring directly at Klaus.

"And who, pray tell-of Marcel's valued inner circle-manages his business at the docks?" He asked in feigned curiosity as he already knew the answer.

"Katie's boyfriend, Thierry." Sophie reluctantly replied then sighed heavily with realization. "Okay. I'll do it."

Once Sophie left, Klaus delegated orders to Rebekah before following Valentina down the driveway and helping her climb into his SUV. When he was sure she was perfectly situated, he closed the passenger door, walked around the hood of the car, and climbed in for himself.

He drove them into the city, the car ride consisting of a comfortable silence as Valentina watched the world from the window with her hand resting on her abdomen out of habit. Klaus glanced over at her through the corner of his eye and smiled widely.

Klaus helped ease her out of the vehicle after they arrived at the clinic then followed close behind while she made her way to the door. He grabbed the handle before she could, holding it open for her.

Valentina shot him an appreciative smile on her way past him. She checked herself in at the reception desk then sat down in one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room. Klaus lowered himself down into the seat next to her and placed his palm on her thigh when she started to bounce her leg anxiously. He wrapped his fingers around her thigh, squeezing gently to provide her unspoken comfort.

The corners of her lips involuntarily twitched up at his touch and she stopped picking at her cuticles so she could place her hand over his. He turned his hand around, intertwined their fingers, and pulled their clasped hands up to his lips, softly kissing the back of her hand.

"Mikaelson." A woman called out causing both of their heads to snap up.

Klaus helped Valentina stand to her feet and walked behind her with a hand resting on the small of her back. The woman lead them to an exam room with a padded table next to the ultrasound system. She instructed Valentina to have a seat on the table then walked back out of the room to grab a chair for Klaus. She set it down on the other side of Valentina and gestured a hand toward it with a smile.

"My name's Melody." She introduced herself while walking over to grab a pair of gloves. "I'm a registered sonographer. I'll be doing your ultrasound today." She said cheerfully and sat down in the chair in front of the medical machine. "Go ahead and lift your shirt up for me."

Valentina raised her shirt until it was up to her breasts and folded down the maternity stretch band of her jeans.

"This gel is gonna be a bit cold, okay?" Melody warned her before opening a packet and spreading blue gel over Valentina's exposed abdomen. A small shiver rippled through Valentina's body, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

Melody grabbed the transducer from its holder and beamed over at the couple. "Ready?" She asked before hitting a few buttons on her control panel and placing the lens on her abdomen. She stared at the monitor while moving the transducer around, concentrating on the greyscale of anatomical parts. "Oh!" She reacted suddenly causing both Valentina and Klaus to look at her with terrified looks. "So, um..." she trailed off then hit a button on her console and set the transducer down. "I need to call the doctor. I'll be right back." She excused herself, pulling her gloves off as she rushed out of the room.

Valentine's heart began to beat so loud that it was the only sound she could hear. She turned her head toward Klaus, who immediately leaned forward to grab her hand and narrow his eyes at the screen. He tried to make sense of the shapes but wasn't trained to understand what they meant.

"Nik?" She whimpered out in fear with tears pooling in her green eyes.

"It's okay, love." He replied calmly as to not upset her any further but truthfully, he was just as worried as her. "I'm sure it's nothing."

The door opened again so they both whipped around to see Melody walking back in with an older woman following close behind.

"Hello." She greeted them warmly then moved to stand behind Melody as the sonographer pointed things out on the screen. "Okay." She acknowledged with a nod of her head. "Hi, guys. I'm Dr. Miller. I'm the OBGYN on staff today." She explained to the couple then motioned for Melody to continue with the ultrasound.

Melody slipped another pair of nylon gloves over her hands, drizzled more gel over the transducer, and placed the lens against Valentina's abdomen again. She moved it around her baby bump and Dr. Miller watched from behind her.

"Stop." The physician commanded, leaned forward, and narrowed her eyes at the screen. She spun the monitor around for the couple to see and pointed a finger at certain things in the image. "Okay. So this is your womb. This is the amniotic sack as you can see there's only one. All the black surrounding this is the amniotic fluid. So here is a head, a set of feet, and hands. That's normal. Now over here we have another head that we didn't see in your last scan." She explained bluntly earning confused expressions from them. "You're having twins."

Valentina's eyes widened as much as possible and she paled out of surprise. Her grip on Klaus' hand tightened, her heart dropped, and she could feel herself shaking. She opened her mouth to speak but only a gasp ruptured from her vocal cords.

"T---twins?" Klaus barely choked out.

"Yes. They both sound healthy and they're growing at the proper rate so I see no concerns. Strong heartbeats. You're measuring at twenty weeks. Are we interested in knowing the genders today or have we decided to wait?" Dr. Miller asked them with a wide grin.

"Uh..." Valentina stuttered, still in complete shock from the news.

Klaus, clearing his throat and moving his chair closer to her, lifted his wife's hand to his face and nodded his head. "Yes. We'd like to know." He decided for them. He knew she wanted to know, that was the whole reason she scheduled the appointment, but she was too stunned to respond for herself.

The physician turned to Valentina with an eyebrow raised, needing her consent as well.

"Oh. Yes." Valentina responded quickly and nodded her head. "Yes please."

"Baby A is..." Melody trailed off as she singled in on the first fetus. "Baby A is a girl." She announced cheerfully, hit a button on the keyboard, then moved on to the second one. "Baby B is a... boy. Congratulations!"

Every word after that was just a blur for Valentina because she stared in awe at her children moving around on the screen with tears falling down her cheeks. Klaus lowered his head to rest it against hers while he cried softly along with her. She felt water his her face so she cupped his head with her hand resting on the nape of his neck.

After their appointment was over, they left with bloodshot eyes and a handful of pictures. They sat in the parked SUV for a moment, not speaking a single word or moving from their spots. Valentina finally broke the silence when she turned to him with wide eyes and a hand held up in the air "Oh my God. Oh my God." She repeated as she snapped out of her stunned trance. "Twins. Twins?! What the fuck are we gonna do? We are wildly unprepared for this. Being pregnant with one was surprise enough but two?!"

Klaus sensed that she was starting to panic so he leaned across the median, grabbed both of her hands in one of his hands, and rested his palm on her cheek. "Hey, hey." He quietly called out to get her attention then smiled warmly when her eyes met his. "It's okay. We're okay. We can do this. This changes nothing in our plan. We'll continue on as we have. I love you. I love all three of you. And I'll be here for you every step of the way. I swear. I won't let you go through this alone, okay? It's okay to be scared. I am too. I'm terrified but I know we can do this as long as we do it together."

"I love you." She expressed affectionately through soft hiccups. She instinctively rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes.

The couple returned home to the mansion with enough time for Klaus to get ready for Marcel's party.

Valentina decided to hang two of the ultrasound photos on the fridge. She smiled happily when she felt a pair of arms snake around her waist underneath her baby bump, instantly knowing that it was Klaus.

She leaned into his touch and allowed him to swing her side to side as he left small kisses on her shoulder. She spun around to face him and admired the way he looked in his black suit, black dress shirt, and black tie. She ran her hands along his upper arms then fixed his crooked tie. "You look incredible."

"Yeah?" He asked giddily.

"Yeah." She replied honestly with a nod of her head. "I'm almost jealous of every woman who gets to see you tonight."

"Ah. There's no need to be jealous, my sweet. I'm all yours." The hybrid reminded her smugly and tilted her chin up with a curled finger.

"Hmm." She hummed in playful suspicion before stretching on her toes so she could crash her lips into his.

He instantly kissed back without hesitation. He tangled his fingers in the brunette strands of hair behind her head and used them as leverage to pull her closer. He pushed them forward until she bumped into the kitchen island. She gasped in surprise which allowed him to slip his tongue into her open mouth. Valentina let out a husky moan and wrapped her arms around his neck, closing any remaining distance that may have been between them.

Klaus placed his hands on the back of her thighs, gently hoisted her up, and set her flat on the countertop then positioned himself so he could stand in between her legs. He dug his nails into the delicate skin of her inner thighs sending another moan to vibrate through her. He smiled into the kiss before removing his lips from hers and attaching them to her jawline, trailing a series of hungry pecks along her jaw toward her neck.

Valentina tilted her head back and bit gently down on her bottom lip. "Nik..." she moaned his name, sending him into hyperdrive. "You're gonna be late." She pointed out breathlessly.

"Nothing wrong with that." He growled as he wrapped a hand around her throat. "They can wait." He mused before kissing her feverishly on the lips again.

---
Comment
Vote
Share
Xoxo
-the1andonlytifftiff