THE hybrids were fast asleep in their bed and the only sound coming from their room was that of their shallow breathing. Ingrid was lying on her side with Klaus pressed up against her back and his hand drapped across her baby bump. They were suddenly startled awake by a loud sound coming from the courtyard. They sat up and climbed out of bed before walking out to find the source of the noise.

Ingrid yawned and rubbed her eyes while pulling her shirt down over her stomach. She squinted her eyes to see there was a series of men doing a construction on the courtyard.

Klaus walked out onto the balcony while shouting loudly in aggravation. "Enough with all the racket!"

"Is there a problem, brother?" Elijah questioned with a smirk then dismissed his construction team. "Gentlemen, please."

"I agreed to a general sprucing up, not a bloody three-ring circus." Klaus sneered as he made his way down the stairs.

"Elijah... it is so early." Ingrid complained with a groan. "Can this wait until later, please?"

"Ingrid, it is almost eleven in the morning." Elijah informed her with an amused smirk.

"And your point being?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow. "It is too early. I need sleep. It is exhausting growing a person."

"I will try to remember that." Elijah laughed and turned back to his brother, looking around in disgust. "Marcel and his minions abused our home for the better part of a century. Now, you might be content to live in squalor. I'm not."

"Okay, I can concur." Ingrid remarked with a yawn and waved a hand at him. "Carry on then. Please just keep it down."

Just then Genevieve strolled into the compound with a wide smile. "I agree with your brother. It's a new era in the French Quarter. This place could use a makeover."

"Kiss ass." Ingrid grumbled too low for her human ears to hear.

"Careful, Elijah. When this one agrees with you, it's a sure sign she wants something." Klaus snarled in a patronizing tone.

"Actually I do have a request." The red headed witch nervously said and turned to Elijah. "I'm told our coven hasn't been able to celebrate feast days in the open since Marcel restricted the use of magic. Now with the new peace, I'd like that to change."

"Am I to assume that you have a certain feast day in mind?" Elijah questioned with narrowed eyes.

"La Fête des Bénêdictions." She answered in a cheery fashion then translated it. "Feast of the Blessings. In the past, members of the community offered witches gifts in exchange for blessings. We'd like to use it as a forum for introducing our young Harvest girls to society."

"So your coven attempted to destroy my family-- and you yourself held my siblings in unspeakable torment-- and you would like a party for the witches?" Elijah questioned incredulously, crossing his arms over his chest, and the other Mikaelsons chuckled at his tone.

Genevieve glared at all of them and smiled condescendingly. "Why don't you think it over?" She suggested before turning on her heels and leaving their home.

Klaus smirked at his older brother and pointed a finger. "Oh, don't be such a stiff, Elijah. The tourists love a good festival." He remarked while walking toward his bedroom again.

Elijah and Ingrid shared a look and equally rolled their eyes then returned to what they were doing prior to being interrupted. The couple climbed back into bed, ready to fall back asleep. However, Klaus was restless and unable to fall asleep. Ingrid felt this and rolled over to face him with a concerned face. She placed a hand on his chest and looked directly at him. "What's bothering you, darling?"

He glanced up at the ceiling, debating on how to word his thoughts. His mouth moved as he attempted to say them out loud. Realizing that he was having difficulty, she grabbed ahold of one of his hands and kissed his palm. "It is okay. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, no..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "I want to. I just don't know how to say it."

"Say it how you feel." Ingrid encouraged affectionately, kissing his palm again.

"I... I'm worried about becoming a father." He finally admitted that very thing that had been eating at him for months. "What if I'm just like him?" He snarled out the word and Ingrid didn't need Klaus to say his name for her to know exactly who he was talking about. "What if I absolutely fail and she hates me?" He questioned emotionally, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Niklaus." She whispered softly and took his face in her small hands. Wiping his tears away, she turned him to face her and smiled warmly. "Thousand years ago I wanted nothing more than to make you a father because I always thought you would be the best father a child could ask for. Thousand years later and I cannot wait to for you a father because it still rings true. You could never be like him. Simply because I would not sit by and allow it." She reassured him sternly then shook her head and laughed lightly. "She will never hate you. Now, I cannot promise that she won't be mad at you from time to time but she won't hate you."

Klaus laughed at her last statement and sniffled quietly. Ingrid could tell that it was still on his mind and kissed him tenderly on the lips. He kissed back immediately and placed a hand on her back. When she pushed him onto his back and climbed on top, straddling his waist, he pulled away from the kiss and smirked at her. "What are you doing, love?"

"Well, I can see that no matter what I say... you still will not believe me so..." She trailed off and bit her lip. "I thought maybe I could take your mind off of it."

He smirked widely and raised his eyebrows. "Hmmm... I don't know. You might have to keep going."

She laughed and attempted to lean down to kiss him on the lips. However, due to the size of her baby bump, she couldn't reach. Ingrid sat back and gaped in shock while he laughed up at her with a look of admiration in his light blue eyes. "Here. Let me help you, sweetheart."

Klaus proceeded to place his hands on her waist and flip them over so that her back was flat against the bed and he was hovering over top of her. She gazed up at him with a small pout and he laughed at her before leaning down and kissing her on the nose.

"I was supposed to be distracting you." She remarked with a disappointed frown.

"Well, you're doing an incredible job at it." He reassured her and kissed her on the lips. She closed her eyes and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Ingrid groaned in discomfort and attempted to get comfortable by shifting her weight but it wasn't working. He pulled away and looked at her in concern. She sighed heavily and gave him a disappointed face. "My deepest apologies, my love. But lying on my back is not comfortable anymore and I cannot seem--" Shs said while shifting around rapidly to find the best spot but gave up and signed again. "--to get comfortable at the moment. Just a second."

He helped her sit up and smiled warmly in reassurance. "Ingrid, it's okay. We don't have to right now."

"No because now I feel bad. I started this and I need to uphold my word." She argued with a frown and held a finger up. "Just let me readjust to something better and we can continue." She said in determination while rolling onto her side and trying to pull herself up. "Okay, now I am stuck."

Klaus quickly helped her sit up and crouched down in front of her, brushing the hair from her face. "Please never feel bad about something like this. Ingrid, I would never want you to feel like you have to do something you don't want to do."

"And I know that but---" She began to argue but he cut her off by holding up his hand.

"No, there it no but." He remarked sternly and stared deeply into her eyes. "My love, I don't expect anything from you. Especially right now. You're carrying my baby. Our baby. As far as I see it, you get every free pass in the world right now." He said with a wide smile, placing a hand on her baby bump. "I can't imagine how uncomfortable you are but I'm going to do anything and everything I can to make you more comfortable. Just name it."

Ingrid looked at him with tears in her eyes and held his face in her hands. "You are already the best father."

"I love you." Klaus declared affectionately.

"I love you." She proclaimed in the same tone then laughed out of nowhere causing him to glance at her, bewildered. "You have no idea how hard it is to maneuver with a whole extra foot in front of you. I cannot see my feet anymore." She said in-between laughter. "If I did not walk, I would forget they were there. I can't even bend over to grab anything because it is like having a permanent eleven inch yoga ball attached to you at all points."

Klaus frowned slightly because even though she was laughing, he felt as thought it was out of frustration and not amusement. Rubbing her thigh in comfort, he watched her sober up and raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"

Taking a deep breath, she nodded her head and smiled. "I am okay. My apologies, darling."

"There is no need to apologize to me." He informed her with a smile and helped her stand to her feet. "Hungry?"

She nodded her head quickly and walked next to him as they walked over to the bathroom to get ready. "Yes. I have a craving for Chinese food."

"Okay. Let's go get you some Chinese food." He remarked with a laugh and rubbed her back.

"And Oreos." Ingrid added quickly, pointing a finger at him.

Laughing harder, he nodded his head in agreement. "And Oreos."

The couple was getting ready for the festival and Ingrid watched Klaus, wearing a fully black suit with an off-black tie, from the balcony and witnessed him setting Esther's grimoire in the courtyard. Raising an eyebrow, she nonverbally asked him what he was doing. He sped toward her and smirked deviously. "I have this gnawing feeling that Genevieve is after mother's spell book so I've set a trap."

"I assumed but I did not want you be wrong." She replied then walked back to their room with him following suit. "Can you assist me?"

"Of course." He answered instantly with enthusiasm.

Ingrid led him toward the bed where two gowns were lied out and gestured toward them. "Please help me pick." They were both black but one was long sleeve with a high, crew neckline while the other an off the shoulder with a sweetheart neckline.

He glanced at them both before picking the long sleeve gown and holding it out to her. "I like this one."

She took it from him with a large smile and kissed him on the cheek. "I thought the same thing. Thank you." She expressed her gratitude and walked toward the mirror. "I shouldn't be but a moment longer."

He nodded in understanding and kissed her on the forehead then walked out of the room to give her the time she needed.

The witch that Genevieve had sent to steal from them had entered the compound and began to look around the courtyard. After a moment, he found Esther's grimoire laying on the table and reached for it.

Klaus glanced at him from above, on the balcony, and smirked. "A little too easy, isn't it? I've been expecting you." He then sped down to face him. "You're late."

Ingrid walked down the stairs, now fully dressed with her makeup and hair done, to see Klaus putting a pair of severed hands into a box and simply raised an eyebrow. She looked a few away to see the lifeless body of the witch they belonged to. "Oh, I see you're going a bit archaic with the cut off a theives hands. Nice touch." She complimented genuinely and walked toward him. "Ready?"

"Yes." He answered while placing a small box inside his jacket and carrying the large in in his hand. He then held out his other hand for her to take and instantly did so, intertwining their fingers. The couple left the compound and made their way to the festival.

They arrived to the festival and began mingling amongst the other patrons. Klaus had gifted Davina the spell for daylight rings and she was genuinely surprised. He then spent the rest of the evening by Ingrid's side.

Suddenly, a large group of drummers marched into the party. Confused, Hayley, Elijah, Ingrid, and Klaus lingered nearby and watched them.

"Happy Fête des Bénédictions. We have a message for all of you from Marcel Gerard." The drummers announced loudly and everyone frowned and started whispering to each other.

All of the drummers took out straight razors and sliced their wrists open, bleeding all over the floor. The vampires in the room started to get antsy and vamp-out at the smell of blood. Elijah held a hand up to them and shot a warning look. "Control yourselves. This is a vulgar trick." He sneered in disgust and shouted to the crowd. "We do not violate our agreement."

Then the lights suddenly went out, and the vampires started feeding on the drummers, as well as other humans at the party causing the crowd to dissolve into chaos.

Genevieve ran toward the Harvest girls and grabbed another witch to help. "Get them out of here!"

The chaos continued and when the lights switched back on, there were dozens of dead or injured humans lying on the ground. On the walls, someone had written "THERE WILL BE NO PEACE" on the wall.

"Hey! - Elijah?" Hayley shouted out into the ground from her spot on the ground. She had blood on her forehead from a wound that had already healed.

"Hayley. It's okay. It's all right." He assured her, picking her up from the ground, and helped her out of the party.

Klaus pulled Ingrid close and looked at the disaster with narrowed eyes. He then placed a hand on her baby bump and kissed her forehead. "Let's go."

She stared at the mess before her and nodded slowly with a distant expression on her face. She allowed him to lead her out of the crowd and outside. She embraced the cold air around her and sighed heavily. She glanced up to see that Klaus was scowling angrily at the space in front of him. Placing a hand on his arm, she shot him a caring expression. "Marcellus will pay for this indiscretion." She reassured him softly. "Elijah's treaty has now been broken. There is no doubt in my mind that he has a plan for punishment."

"He's out for blood at this point." Klaus remarked with a shake of his and ran a hand down his face. "Let's get you home."

She nodded in understanding and looped her arms with his before they began walking down the sidewalk toward the compound.

---
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-the1andonlytifftiff