[II] Family {Klaus Mikaelson}

NINETEEN

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With a gentle click of the door shutting, Faith sighed what seemed to be the millionth time of the night and leaned against the doorway. Dani had fallen asleep on their way home, probably tired from the overwhelming emotions the seven-year-old had experienced for the night. The siphoner, unconsciously stroked her baby bump as if to comfort the twins before pushing off the doorway.

She looked up into the corridor and her blue eyes were met with Klaus' at the end of the corridor. Faith would've been amused by how awkward he stood there as if he didn't know what to do for the first time in his life, but she was exhausted and unwelcoming to the hybrid.

Faith knew she was being a bit of a hypocrite. She used to not care about others' well-being if they weren't part of her family, but now with being around her daughter and her soon-to-be-born twins, she was rethinking all her morals.

She wanted her kids to have at least an ounce of a normal family. One that cared about the people they cared about. She didn't want to neglect their feelings or abuse them as her mother had done with her and how Klaus' father had done with him. They deserved to be loved and cared for like children are supposed to be.

Of course, she can't completely change in a matter of seconds. It was going to take time. Even then, she didn't know if she was capable of a complete change. She wasn't going to lie that she didn't like the sensation of a life dying by her hand or the power she felt with magic surging through her. It was something she grew up around with. It felt strange without death around her every single day of her life.

"We can't keep doing this," Faith uttered once she reached Klaus at the end of the corridor. Klaus thankfully decided to listen to her, for now at least as they walked toward their bedroom. "I don't want her to see death so young. I lost my father around her age and it changed me for the worst. I know she's not me, but the fear is still there."

"A fast change has many drawbacks, Love," Klaus answered. "We can't change that fast without drawbacks."

"You're right," Faith nodded, calmly, "but we can change, slowly with fewer drawbacks."

Faith stiffened under his touch as he wrapped an arm around her waist. The hybrid's heart sank at her rigid posture before she relaxed under his touch. She let herself be pulled into the bedroom by the hybrid and the door closed behind them.

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"The Italians called them 'Strega'. The Yoruba of West Africa calls them 'Aje', meaning mother. Where my mother was from, they called them 'Hexa', and here we call them 'Witch'. Over the centuries, vampires have fought them and fought beside them, bedded them, and burned them. Whether adversary or ally, they have been a force to be reckoned with."

"They're ancestral magic that anchors this city," Elijah explained, standing in the study room. In the middle of the study were the paintings Davina had made of Celeste on the coffee table. Hayley and Faith were seated on the leather couches, silently listening to Elijah's theory of why Davina had been painting his ex-lover. "There's never been one all-powerful witch until Davina."

"Who is now tucked in safe and sound down the hall under my protection," Klaus announced, walking into the study and stopped in front of the painting of the dead witch. "Your Celeste was quite beautiful and a portent of evil according to our volatile artist in residence."

"You're right," Faith leaned forward at the drawing, taking one of the corners between her fingertips. "She was quite beautiful."

She smirked when Klaus looked at her as Elijah spoke again, ignoring Faith's comment.