The Other Mikaelson- Book 3 (On hold)

Chapter XV

Later on, Elijah was sitting on the porch with Hope in a carrier, while Rebekah and Keira were outside setting up firewood.

Keira smiled and walked over to Elijah. "She's not going to break, Elijah, and I know perfectly well you can hold a baby."

"I do recall a three year old version of you trying to teach me, despite the fact that I was twelve and had four younger siblings, including you."

Keira sat next to him. "It's alright, Elijah. She won't break. Everything you did was in the name of protecting her. I'm not worried."

Elijah reluctantly picked up Hope. "Hello, sweetheart," he said slowly, before looking at the bonfire. "Is that what I think it is?"

Keira smiled warmly. "Well, we thought that since Kol's been revived, his favorite tradition should be revived with him. Especially since we're all going to be together."

"Only because we're fleeing from one of our deranged parents," Elijah said as Rebekah walked back to the group.

Keira scoffed with fake surprise. "Again?" she asked sarcastically.

"It's a peculiar thing- never to be tired, yet forever exhausted by the sameness of things. Why is our family always at war?"

Rebekah, next to her siblings, smiled and took Hope's hand as a black SUV pulled up the driveway.

"We're not so bad. We're not the monsters that our parents think we are," Rebekah said. Klaus didn't even get a chance to park before Hayley jumped out of the car and ran to her child. She stopped a few feet away from Elijah, approaching slowly as Klaus caught up to her. Elijah handed Hope, who was smiling at her mother, to Hayley, who sighed in relief. After a few seconds, Hayley turned and stood next to Klaus. Hope cooed, and her parents both laughed.

After the break, the siblings were discussing their new revelations while setting up the bonfire.

"Curse on the first-born? What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Keira asked as Klaus told them that they had an older sister, Freya.

"Well, according to Finn, our sister Freya didn't die of plague. She was taken as payment by our aunt Dahlia, who then cursed all Mikaelson first-borns for eternity," Klaus replied.

"Is any of this true?" Hayley asked, concerned.

Elijah sighed. "It is if we are to believe Finn, who learned it from the bastion of truth- our mother."

Rebekah scoffed. "Well, no wonder Finn hates us. He lost the sister he adored, and instead got a judgy pack of siblings who found him unbearably dull."

"Well," Keira said. "In our defense, he was unbearable dull."

"Great. So, is there any chance of us running into your loony aunt Dahlia any time soon?" Hayley asked.

"The fable's over a thousand years old. Dahlia is long dead."

Keira raised an eyebrow. "Just like- oh, right! Mother!"

"No one's going to hurt Hope, because no one's going to find her," Klaus said, before noticing how much wood his sisters had gathered. "There's enough wood, sisters. You're going to burn down the whole bloody state of Arkansas."

Keira smiled. "Well, we're just missing a key ingredient!"

"No we're not," Klaus sighed.

"Yes, we are, Nik! Back me up, Elijah!"

Elijah laughed. "I suspect Niklaus would rather choke on the ashes."

"What are you all talking about?" Hayley asked.