I Won't Give Up - Hosie

Protect You

"Are you ready?" Josie asks.

"Not even remotely," Hope answers.

They're nervously sitting at the doctor's office when "Josette Saltzman" is called in.

They're taken into one of the exam rooms and greeted by a dark-haired woman.

"It's good to see you again, Josie," she hugs her.

Hope is seriously confused as to why Josie is hugging her doctor, and is lowkey feeling possessive until Josie explains that it is her aunt Elena.

"Is this a friend you've brought along?" Elena asks.

"Actually this is the baby's other parent, Hope Mikaelson."

"Forgive me, Josie hasn't mentioned you before," Elena explains her mistake. "And you haven't been to any of her other appointments."

"I was away for a while, but now I'm here," Hope glares at her. "Josie never mentioned that her aunt was such a bi-"

"Can you two please stop it? When the baby is born, you two are going to be family too. So you might as well try to get along."

Hope and Elena narrow their eyes at each other before both quietly muttering "fine."

Josie sits on the bed and leans back.

"Okay, Josie, I'm going to need you to lift up your shirt a little for me," Elena prepares her instruments.

Josie immediately reaches for Hope's hand when the gel is spread over her lower abdomen.

Hope quirks a brow at her and smirks.

"What? It's really cold," Josie blushes.

Elena places the probe on her stomach and starts moving it around.

"Your baby is all healthy. As you can see, here is the baby's head, here are the hands, there are the feet," Elena is pointing to different places on the screen. "And there's the baby's-"

"It's a boy," Hope stares intently at the screen.

"That's correct. I'm going to let you two have a minute while I print some copies for you," Elena exits.

"Are you okay, Hope?" Josie is a little worried about her.

Hope has been staring at the screen this whole time, unable to look away. She had seen a sonogram of their baby from one of the previous ultrasounds when she was cleaning Josie's apartment, but this was entirely different.

She could see her baby moving, hear its heartbeat, his heartbeat.

"We're having a little boy," Hope turns to Josie with the widest smile on her face and a glimmer in her eyes.

"We are," Josie smiles and nods her head.

Later that day, after dinner, they find themselves pondering over baby names now that they know they're having a son.

"We could name him after you dad," Josie suggests.

"Already taken," Hope shakes her head. "My aunts' kid is my cousin Nik."

"How about your dad?"

Josie frantically waves her hands. "No way, I only need one Stefan in my life."

After a long silence, Josie perks up again. "We could name him after my uncle Kai."

Hope considers it for a moment before once more shaking her head.

"Malachai Mikaelson? I don't think so. You got any other suggestions?"

"What about Alaric?" the door swings open revealing a gruff man with light brown hair.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Josie's mood shifts dramatically.

Hope looks between them confused. She has no idea who this guy is, but Josie must recognize him because of the strong reaction she had.

"I came to congratulate my daughter on my future grandson," he stumbles in further, slurring his words.

"You don't have the right to call me that," Josie crosses her arms. "You gave it up when you walked out on me and Lizzie when we were 5 years old."

"Come on, that was a long time ago. We're family."

"No, we're not. You need to leave my house." 

"Josie, honey-" he places a hand on her arm.

"Hey! You heard her," Hope is now up on her feet walking at him. "Now, get your hands off her and leave."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Someone who's about to beat your ass if you don't do as I say," Hope threatens.

He looks at Hope's small frame and starts to laugh to himself. "Yeah, right-"

Hope doesn't hesitate to to grab him and put him into a headlock, holding the blade of a pocket knife to his neck.

"Fine, alright, I'll go," he puts his hands up in surrender.

Hope releases him and shoves him toward the door.

 "I'll be back," he yells as he stumbles out the door.

"If you ever come near Josie or my son again, I'll fucking kill you," Hope glares at him before slamming the front door shut.

Now that he's gone, Hope's main concern is Josie. She's standing in the middle of the living room with wide eyes, not moving.

"Jo, why don't you sit down," Hope helps her to the couch.

"You just, and Alaric, and knife, and-" she's muttering incoherent sentences.

Hope sits down next to her and lightly strokes her hair to calm her.

"Relax, breathe in, breathe out."

Josie does her best to follow Hope's instructions. 15 minutes later, her heart has stopped racing and her breathing is mostly regular.

"Josie, who was that?" Hope finally asks.

"Alaric Saltzman, my bio-dad who ditched me and Lizzie when we were kids. He was, and from the looks of it still is, an alcoholic."

"Well then, I'm glad he's gone."

"Thanks for getting rid of him, Hope."

They sit there in silence for a while, but Hope knows Josie wants to ask.

"I'm trained in self-defense because my family was worried that being an heir to the family business would put a target on my back," Hope explains, rolling her eyes at their paranoia. 

"Have you ever had to use it before tonight?"

"Luckily not. But I'm grateful I know it, that way I can always protect you."

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