"Why are you so calm?" Hayley asked as she paced around Hope's nursery, her hands pulling at her hair as she stared worriedly at their daughter.
"What do you mean?" He looked up to Hayley, answering her in a soft voice as he held a crying Hope in his arms, trying to soothe her by sitting in the rocking chair.
Hayley had arrived in panic, holding her upset daughter in one arm and in the other a bag full of trash. She'd called for Klaus as she went looking for him in the compound when he appeared in front of her. He'd looked at Hope's red face and held out his arms, waiting for Hayley to give her consent which had surprised Hope's mother so much that she forgot her worries for a second. She'd handed him their daughter and he went to settle down in the nursery while Hayley explained to him the problem. He'd barely had to take a look in the bag to know what had caused Hope to be so upset and Hayley had felt overwhelmed with sadness at the thought that she was a terrible parent who didn't even know that her daughter was allergic to certain food.
"I mean that I fucked up, Klaus, I didn't know she was allergic and now she's in pain, so why aren't you yelling at me? For once I deserve it." Tears had started welling up at her eyes and she couldn't bear to stare at her daughter as she was finally calming down in her father's arms.
"I am not yelling because you didn't know, Little Wolf. Actually, you couldn't know because you weren't there and I didn't think to catch you up on the changes Hope went through during those three months. It is as much my fault as it is yours, love. Besides, she had to react this way three times before I realized what was causing her these crises."
Hope was dozing off in Klaus' arms and he had spoken those words in a whisper, as if telling a story to Hope. Hayley felt a pain in her chest at the thought that Niklaus Mikaelson was a better parent than her. Sometimes she could not help but feel that it was a competition between them, and despite his terrible personality their daughter had quieted quickly in his arms, whereas she had spent more than an hour trying to get her to calm down before taking her to the compound.
"You should rest, Hayley, she will sleep it off. Thankfully, her allergic reactions are always very mild and pass after a good night of sleep."
She sat down heavily on the chair near Hope's bed while Klaus started humming a familiar air that she couldn't remember. As Hayley felt the exhaustion of the day lift off her shoulders, she too was compelled by Klaus' song and slowly falling asleep. Right before she closed her eyes, she thought that the song was similar to the one she had been humming to Hope a few days earlier.