Rue | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 30

Ibeth drew Klaus a bath.

"No offense," she said, holding her breath as she gestured to the prepared tub, "you stink."

"Well, thank you for that," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I'll bring you some blood bags and food," she said. "Anything else you want?"

"You needn't bring me anything, love. I can get those things myself when I'm clean."

"I want to bring them. You were stuck in a dungeon for almost six years, I think the least I can do is make sure you're comfortable. Relax, listen to some music, soak a little then rinse off. I'll have some clothes and food waiting for you when you're done."

He lingered in the bathtub for almost an hour, giving her enough time to cook for all the vampires under their roof. She brought a tray up for him with three blood bags on the side. She set out some pajamas for him, ducking into the bathroom briefly to leave them ready. He had his eyes closed, up to his neck in the bubbly water, perhaps asleep or just meditating.

He came downstairs as she was cleaning the kitchen, wearing the pajamas she'd given him. "Leave that, love," he said when she started trying to wash his dishes. "I'd like to speak with you, if that's alright."

"Okay. I'll do those in the morning, then." She turned off the kitchen lights and followed him to his room.

"Tell me about him," he asked as soon as the door was closed. "Tell me everything. The pregnancy, the delivery, each birthday."

She sat on one of the room's armchairs while he leaned against the window, staring out at the dark sky. "Well, the pregnancy was fine. Nick and Kurt were a big help, so was my grandmother. The worst thing was the body aches. My belly hung so low, my back was always hurting and my feet would swell. He was big on kicking, too. Like a damn soccer player just kicking away whenever Nick, Luna, or Angel talked to him. Angel would sometimes stay really late wanting to hug my belly and feel him moving around.

"The labor was painful. I wasn't too happy during it... it was painful and though I knew it couldn't kill me, I was a bit scared. Everyone thought he was probably breech because he wasn't coming out but he was just being stubborn. But I listened to the advice given to me, I breathed, I prayed. Vincent, Josh, and Cami were there. He came out and suddenly nothing else mattered. The placental delivery ached but I was able to shut that pain out much easier just by holding him.

"I cried a lot when he was born. I was surrounded by people but you were missing, Hayley was missing, Rebekah. Three people I was sure would be there when he was born. And none of you were able to be. Hayley was willing but it was too dangerous. And I knew Marcel would come. And he did. At my most vulnerable he showed up and told me he'd be there to help me if anything. I knew you must have heard us. And I knew what Marcel's words really meant. That he was going to be watching me closely."

Klaus winced. "I begged him to let me see you. I would have gone back to that dungeon willingly afterward. I just wanted to be there to hold you, to see our son. I used to dream of what he might look like when I had Papa Tunde's blade in me. Just to ease that suffering I'd drift into an imaginary scenario where I did get to witness his birth. I assumed if I ever didn't make it to see that, it would be because you didn't allow it. Not because of Marcel and this entire mess. Continue with what happened afterward... please."

Ibeth looked down at her hands. "He was a fussy baby the first few nights. Didn't want to sleep. Sucked too hard when he breastfed. A little menace. But he calmed down. Everyone loved him and he felt safe with those who held him. His eyes were grey at first, and I figured he might have brown eyes like me. By his first birthday it became apparent that he had your eyes. He got a lot of presents. Separate ones for Christmas. Josh and Vincent spoil him too much. Marcel would send some things, too. I would try to make each year special, took loads of pictures." She opened her photos app and showed him where all the pictures were saved. "I organized them by year... marked the days on them... preparing for when I'd finally get to show them to you."