Epilogue

a/n: This is it, my lovelies... Thank you so very much to those of you who've read from the beginning to the end, taking this journey with me (and Klaus and Cami and Hope and Nik). I leave you with this...

"Did you know that Nik called Hayley Mom this morning? Mom," Cami huffed, indignantly, flopping herself down on their bed next to him, still fully clothed.

"Well, in his defense, our family is quite untraditional," Klaus pointed out, diplomatically, as he ran his hand up her thigh and gave her hip a gentle squeeze.

Cami gave him a look.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Darling, Hope does call Hayley Mom…it's understandable that Nik would still be a bit confused by it all," he soothed. "You're his mother, with regard to that, I assure you, he is not uncertain, nor confused. To him they're merely names at this point...Daddy, Aunty Beks, Aunty Freya, Uncle Elijah…and your name is Mama, and so, in his mind, Hayley's could be Mom. It doesn't change your role in his life." He pressed his lips to hers, briefly, before pulling away to add, "You are still the single most important person in his life, I assure you."

Cami hoped she'd only imagined the tiny hint of wistfulness in his voice at that last part.

She sighed. "He loves you, you know? Second only to me…and not by much." She smiled, comfortingly, and placed her hand on top of his, where it rested possessively atop her hip bone. "And I know a name shouldn't bother me, but…I already share Hope, and you know how difficult that was for me. Forgive me for not wanting to share my son, too." She sighed, forcing air through her nose, grumpily. "Mama. Mom. If our son starts calling anyone else Mommy, I'm out, Klaus, I swear to God."

He chuckled and pressed his lips to her forehead, indulgently.

She swatted him away, half-heartedly, pulling back and pointing a finger at him.

"I'm serious! I mean, what are we? Sister Wives?" Cami asked him, sounding thoroughly disgusted.

"While that is an intriguing thought…" Klaus began.

She gave him another look, and he tucked his chin in thought.

"I'd liken us more to a Siamese dynasty," he opined. "Large, powerful, and thousands of years in the making…"

"So, now I'm a concubine? Great…even better," Cami rolled her eyes, sarcastically.

"You don't see the similarities?" he asked, grinning innocently.

"No, Chow Yun-Fat, I don't," she responded, firmly, the slightest hint of laughter creeping into her tone. "I'm not a British schoolmarm summoned here to teach your legion of royal children. I'm the mother of your son, whom I might point out is one of only two children you've fathered…about fifty shy of Siamese dynasty standards, I believe," she pointed out, slightly amused and only mildly annoyed.

"You know, come to think of it, you're probably right. Anyway, Anna was much more agreeable than you are," he smirked, knowing he'd surprise her with his rare morsel of pop culture knowledge.

She looked at him, intently. He'd never seen The Wizard of Oz, but he knew The King and I? Well, technically, she supposed she'd referenced Anna and The King, but still. Interesting. After all this time, she was still learning something new about him every day.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Klaus. I guess our family is nothing like Old Siam after all," she sighed, with a wistfulness that was clearly facetious in nature.

"Perhaps not…fifty children does seem a bit excessive, doesn't it? Even for the King of Siam."

She widened her eyes exaggeratedly and hummed a near-silent agreement.

"I suppose, however, we could attempt to expand our dynasty, just a bit…" he suggested, keeping his voice purposefully casual.

What?

"What?" Cami asked, sitting up, abruptly, her heart screeching to a halt before sputtering to life once again and pounding in double-time. She searched his face and found it to be full of sincere curiosity.

"Don't you ever think about it?" he asked, his face uncharacteristically guileless. "I mean…we did it once before," he shrugged. "Mightn't we then be able do it again?" His gaze was intense, unwavering, but also full of uncertainty.

"I…I don't know, Klaus." She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, rocked by the sudden serious turn in their conversation. "I guess I never let myself think about it," she confessed, quietly.

She pictured it now, though…a little girl with her eyes and Klaus's smile. Or another son, a baby boy to fill her arms now that Nik was getting too big to want to be held. Hope and Nik would be thrilled, and she… She pictured herself pregnant again, this time with Klaus there by her side. She imagined him hearing their child's heartbeat for the first time. She imagined his hands on her swollen belly. She imagined him helping her stand when she became large and awkward, and she chuffed out a small laugh. "You don't know what you're wishing for," she teased, her voice the slightest bit unsteady.

He smiled, tenderly, seeming to follow her train of thought, before his eyes grew serious once again. "I do, though, Camille," he said, softly. "And I do wish for it…" he confided, whisper-soft.

Her eyes widened slightly, dampening involuntarily.

He was serious.

"Klaus," she whispered, apologetically, shaking her head.

He swallowed, his own eyes bright, and looked heavenward.

"It's alright, love," he said, turning away, quickly. "It was just a thought. I'm perfectly happy with the family we have. I oughtn't be so-"

"It's not that I don't want to, Klaus," she cut him off, midsentence, taking one of his hands in both of hers. "I just don't…what if I can't?"

And there it was.

The reason she'd never dared to think about it, herself. What if they couldn't have another baby?

He turned quickly to face her.

Her eyes were wide, solemn. Concerned.

"I mean…it was such a fluke that it even happened the first time. Maybe I won't be able to…" she looked at him, imploringly, willing him to understand her apprehension at getting his hopes up. Or her own, for that matter.

"Camille," he whispered, chidingly, leaning forward and cupping her face with his free hand before brushing his lips lightly across hers. "Maybe we," he stressed the word, relieving her of the sole responsibility of bringing future life into their family. "Won't be able to do it again," he acknowledged, reluctantly. "But maybe we will," he whispered, encouragingly. He looked directly into her eyes, allowing her access to every emotion swirling in the depths of his own—all of the fear, the hope, the love…holding nothing back from her. "Either way, we won't know unless we try, right?" He grinned, devilishly. "And, if memory serves, you and I try pretty damn brilliantly," he smirked, arrogantly.

"Well, there is that," she agreed, smiling, flirtatiously.

As she smiled back at him, her heart felt light and content. In this moment, she truly believed that, for them, anything was possible.

"And we should try sooner rather than later because I don't want to put off what we talked about any longer than necessary," he added, his eyes growing serious once again.

She nodded, soberly. Recently, they had been discussing the possibility of him turning her. The discussion had come up more and more frequently as of late, and a few days ago, she had finally agreed. As terrified as she was about the transition, she was more terrified of growing old, dying, and leaving this world, without him. The prospect of outliving her children terrified her, but in the end, they would always have Klaus's blood coursing through their veins—though they were not vampires, if either of them were to die, they would turn….if they chose to do so. In the meantime, her transition would enable her to more effectively protect them, and it also guaranteed her safety against a myriad of human frailties that could, at this point in time, end her life as easily as anyone else's. Deciding to turn was a terrifying decision, and their plan wasn't without flaws, but, in the end, what parental decision ever was? Their lives were complicated and, therefore, so would their options and choices always be.

"So, what do you say, my brave bartender?" he asked, brushing his knuckles tenderly along her jaw and sweeping her long, blonde hair back off of her shoulder. "The little ones are down for the night. We've a house full of willing babysitters. Care to get out of here and have a drink with this hundred dollar guy of yours?"

Her heart squeezed, and her eyes filled in response to his rare burst of sentimentality.

"I think I might just take you up on that," Cami smiled, happily, into his beautiful blue-green eyes. "And as luck would have it…I know just the place."

"Do you, now?" he murmured, his face close to hers, his eyes full of love and happiness, emotions she tried to fill him with on a daily basis.

"Mmm hmm…supposedly, there's no magic there, but there's this little room in the back where-" her words were cut off by the press of his lips against hers. She smiled, laughing against his lips until he released her and stood, pulling her to her feet. She watched, silently, as he tapped a quick message into his phone, no doubt alerting someone of their last minute plans. Then she followed him willing as he tugged her through the open balcony door, the two of them snickering, quietly, like teenagers out after curfew. Once outside, he crouched down in front of her and gripped the backs of her thighs, hefting her slight weight onto his back until he was holding her piggy-back style. She giggled into his shoulder until she was gasping for breath, and she could feel him doing the same, his laughter having gone near silent in its intensity.

She didn't know what their future would hold, if they would have more children or not, if the ones they already had would choose an immortal existence or not, if a new threat to the Mikaelson family-to her family-would show up tomorrow…or a century from now…or never. The truth was, there was a lot about their future that she didn't know, but she did know that whatever direction their lives went in, Klaus would be with her at every turn, and she would never leave his side.

Pressing herself against his back, she held on tightly and let him lead her out into the night.

End—Where Magic Is Void