Caroline POV

"Mommy, are we nearly there yet?" A seven-year-old Lizzie piped up from the backseat of the car, her sister Josie draped across her lap snoring. Lizzie was the elder of the twins by only eight and a half minutes but she had taken on the role of protector of her little, not so little sister.

Caroline looked into the car mirror and met her daughter's glassy, blue eyes with a tear stained face. It had been forty-eight hours since they had buried Stefan. Her darling husband and the only father Josie and Lizzie had ever known despite knowing that Stefan and her weren't their biological parents. "We'll be there soon, sweetheart. Mommy promises it'll only be another half an hour" She reassured her daughter with a half-hearted smile.

"Do we have to go?" Lizzie's eyes were welling up as she felt Josie snuggle closer to her. They were going to New Orleans. Her mommy and daddy had planned to move there after her mommy received a new job offer but then daddy died. "I miss daddy" A tear escaped as she fought the urge to bawl like a baby. Mommy had been crying on and off for days and so had Josie but she couldn't let herself cry because if she did then who would take care of Mommy and Josie? "And, what about Uncle Damon and Aunty Lena?"

Caroline felt a rush of sadness hit her square in the chest. The girls had already lost one set of parents as babies and now they had lost a father and she was moving them away from the only home they had ever known. But, it needed to happen. She needed to move away from Mystic Falls with its sad eyes and pitying smiles. So, she decided to carry on with the plan that she and Stefan had made. They were moving to New Orleans. They would settle down in a brand-new place where she didn't have to be the patronised widow and her daughters didn't have to be the unlucky children who had lost their birth parents and adopted father. She had already heard the comments about them being unlucky and bad luck and she didn't want them growing up in a town that made those comments about children. About her children.

"It'll be a fresh start for us, honey, and your daddy would have wanted us to carry on" And, it was true. She could hear Stefan in her head telling her that she needed to be strong and that she couldn't stay in Mystic Falls. Not when a once in the lifetime opportunity came knocking on their door. "And, I do too. I miss him so much that it hurts but we need to be strong for him" Caroline could feel the waves of tears threaten to break free but she needed to be strong now. She needed to be a pillar for her daughters. "And, we'll go and visit Uncle Damon and Aunty Lena. Same with Aunt Bonnie. And, Uncle Matt. And Uncle Tyler and Auntie Liv and they can come and visit us. But, they understand" And, they did. Tyler had held her as she cried whilst Matt had squeezed her hand and Bonnie had distracted her daughters long enough for her to have a little bit of peace. And, Elena had kept her kitchen well stocked with food whilst Liv took her daughters to school. All whilst, she had cried and Damon drank.

Josie awoke with a start. "Mommy, are we here yet?" She gently disentangled herself from her sister as her mommy let off a soft chuckle. She had slept most of the way there in the comfort of Lizzie's lap but a sudden jolt of the car had awoken her to Lizzie's quivering lip and her mommy's sad smile.

Klaus POV

He threw back another whiskey and held out his tumbler for the fourth time in an hour to Cami O'Connell, the bartender slash therapist who kept trying to get him to talk about his problems. And, who kept glancing at him with doe eyes full of pity. He knew what she was thinking. What was he doing drinking himself into oblivion at this bar for the seventh time in as many days? He looked down at his watch, his eyesight blurred by the alcohol. It was 2:00 PM. Elijah would surely be on his way to collect him again with a lecture or some moral preaching that Klaus would deafen himself to and they would sit in silence for the remainder of the journey again. Or maybe, it might be Kol today? Kol with his incessant babbling trying to take Klaus's mind off the subject whilst he recounted anecdotes as Klaus sat silent. Or perhaps his sister, Rebekah? She would offer up a cautious smile as she held his hand and took him home with the very same words that she was always there for him and that he could trust her. It would not be Finn for he heartily disapproved of Klaus's actions with his prudish mannerisms nor would it be Freya with her conspicuous disgust of his coping mechanisms. He would prefer Rebekah in truth. She did not judge nor offer up unsolicited advice nor attempt to heal his wounds with words. She would just be there for him. She had always been there for him even as a child standing up to their abusive father.

"Nik" Rebekah entered the bar. She studied her brother with his lost eyes and angry body language. And, who could blame him? In a week, he had lost his daughter and found out the truth of his soon to be ex-wife. She reached out for his hand tenderly and helped him to his feet. She felt his heavy weight draped over her shoulders as he stumbled. She fixed him with a gentle smile. "Come along, brother" She helped him walk. He was shaking. She knew it was a combination of alcohol, anger and sadness. Though, she also knew that he would never confess to the latter despite her promises that his feelings were normal.

Klaus leaned on his sister with a hazy glance at her normally clear blue eyes. He could see the emotion warring within those tiny irises though she was doing an excellent job at masking her feelings. That most definitely was a Mikaelson trait. "Bekah" He opened his mouth slowly. His sister had always been his favourite sibling. She did not irritate him like Kol, nor lecture like Elijah nor look at him with disgust which was the method employed by Finn and Freya. "Thank you" He grunted out as he felt a sharp pain in his right leg.

"I am so sorry" Caroline hastily apologised as she carefully manoeuvred herself in front of her daughters who immediately looked afraid of this stranger with stormy blue eyes and curly blonde hair. He would have been attractive if it weren't for the scowl attached to his face. "I really am so sorry" She chewed her lip anxiously. This was not the impression that she wanted to create in her new city. She mentally consoled herself. At least this was a city and not a small town in the middle of nowhere. She would probably never see him again nor the blonde woman who looked unfriendly. She turned to Josie. "What do we say?"

Josie moved forward slowly with her hand encapsulated in Lizzie's. "I'm sorry" She offered up an apology as her sister stared down the man. Josie had always been the softer of the two whereas mommy always said that Lizzie was too feisty for her own good. Josie had taken after her daddy with her calm and kind nature whereas Lizzie was like mommy with her fiery outbursts. She burst into tears at the thought of her daddy.

"Come here, honey" Caroline pulled her daughters in for a hug as she felt a painful lump at the back of her throat. They had just put their things down in their new apartment and already she had made a bad impression. No doubt, this stern woman and scowling man would think she couldn't handle her children. "It's okay" She rubbed Josie's back reassuringly as Lizzie fixed the man with her idea of a scary stare behind her mother's back.

Klaus felt something crack inside him. That little girl was afraid of him. When had he become so fearsome that he made little girls cry? And, that blonde woman with the nervous smile eyed him warily. She was beautiful. And, she had two daughters. He didn't even have a moment with his daughter. The little blue eyed girl was still staring at him and he felt himself sober up with an inadvertent chuckle. She was a feisty little thing. Her sister still looked scared but she had a tenderness. And, she and her sister together looked like what he had imagined Hope to look like. His heart twisted as he thought of his beautiful daughter who had never stood a chance. He cleared his throat. "It's not a problem, love" He attempted a smile but felt agony run like venom through his blood. They were not his daughters. They were not Hope. He heard Rebekah make their goodbyes as she pulled him away.

"They're not Hope, Nik" Rebekah had always been perceptive and knew precisely what her brother had been thinking. She looped her arm though his though he seemed lost in a daze. She did not say a word more but inwardly thought at how an interaction with a mere stranger had garnered more words from her brother than she and her siblings had coaxed out of him over the course of the week. She had seen a glimpse of the gentler Nik when he offered up a smile and reassured that woman it was nothing whilst trying to smile at her children. It left her feeling happier than she had felt since the tragedy and that was no mean feat considering that Nik had lost his daughter and she had lost her much anticipated niece. She had not yet time to grieve because she had wanted to be there for Nik when the dam finally opened and he let out all that was stewing within his heart.

Klaus attempted a crooked smile at his sister. She had always known what was on his mind. They were not Hope. And, he knew that. But, that did not mean he was ready to accept the truth that his daughter was taken from him without even a moment within his arms. He staggered and felt Rebekah instinctively right him. Her concerned blue eyes roamed him as he felt swathes of darkness wash over him. The dark had always been such a comfort even as a child. But, he would not succumb and leave his sister to drag him home once more. He would force himself to stay awake. "I know, Bekah" They had arrived home and he collapsed onto the sofa allowing the darkness to sweep him away into a place where nothing hurt. The last thing he heard was Freya's derisory comment that he had drunken himself into a stupor once more.

A/N Thank you for reading! And, I know this is another story but it's a plotbunny that refuses to leave me. Hope you enjoy!