The Revenge Con

24. Auntie Bex

Rebekah had made her way to Dallas in search of Caroline. She had hired someone to help her find the girl and thankfully they had gotten her an address. Rebekah knocked on the door, bracing herself for whatever reaction she was about to get. She would soon realize she couldn't have prepared for what she would find on the other side. 

The door swung open and Rebekah was faced with the last person she thought she would see. 

"Stefan." Rebekah breathed out, feelings rushing through her. 

"Rebekah? What are you doing here?" Before she could answer a loud cry came from inside. "Uh come in." She stepped inside as he disappeared into the apartment. When he returned, he held the most beautiful baby Rebekah had ever seen. She was in complete shock, standing in front of her former lover holding a baby. 

"I came to find Caroline," Rebekah told him, her eyes not leaving the baby in his arms. 

"She just ran to the store." He informed her. "She should be back soon if you want to wait."

"Uh, sure that would be great." Rebekah took off her boots and followed Stefan into the house. Rebekah waited for him to introduce her to the child but he didn't seem to get the hint. "You have a kid?" She finally asked as she sat on the couch. 

"I'll let Caroline explain." He mumbled nervously. "Her name is Hope." He sat next to her, rocking Hope in his arms. 

"She's beautiful." Rebekah held out her finger and Hope wrapped her tiny fingers around it. 

"Like her mother." And her aunt. Stefan thought to himself. 

"So you and Caroline..." Rebekah felt the room closing in on her as she contemplated the possibility.

"are just friends." He assured her. Rebekah was thankful. It was already going to be a challenge to convince Caroline to go back with her, especially now that they had a kid. "Do you want to hold her?" He offered. Rebekah nodded, though she was incredibly nervous. She held out her arms and Stefan gently placed Hope into her arms. 

"Hi, Hope." Rebekah cooed. 

"Hey, Stef! They didn't have the toilet paper you like so we got the expensive one but it's worth it..." Caroline trailed off as she reached the living room, her eyes landing on Rebekah. The toilet paper fell from her hands. Stefan grabbed Hope back from Rebekah so she could greet Caroline. 

"Miss me?" Rebekah asked with a slight smile. Caroline threw her arms around Rebekah, still in disbelief that she was there. 

"You're here! Oh my god, how are you here? Why are you here? Is everything okay?" Caroline began to panic as she checked Rebekah for any obvious signs of injury.

"I'm fine Caroline. I just missed my friends." 

"I wish you would have given me a heads up! I would have cleaned. Or prepared dinner or-"

"You don't need to do anything," Rebekah reassured her. 

"You are our guest! Um, we are supposed to go grocery shopping tomorrow so we don't have much but I can place an order for Chinese. Or pizza. Or sushi. Or-"

"Caroline calm down! You don't owe me anything." 

"Care, why don't I go pick something up? It'll give you two a chance to chat." Stefan offered as Caroline took Hope from his arms. Stefan grabbed his keys off the counter and slipped on his shoes. He left the apartment leaving Rebekah, Caroline and Hope. 

"So what brings you to Dallas?" Caroline asked as she gently rocked Hope in her arms.

"I wanted to talk to you about coming back to New Orleans. Though that might be a little difficult with this little one." Rebekah leaned in and Hope reached for her hair. 

"I can't go back." Caroline sighed sadly, reminded of her daughter's father. 

"You and Stefan have quite the lives for yourselves here I see. How long has it been?" 

"We travelled together for a few months after the engagement party but we decided to settle somewhere after I found out I was pregnant," Caroline explained. Rebekah couldn't believe she hadn't known about Caroline's pregnancy at all.

"You and Stefan...When did you guys uh..." Rebekah felt a sense of morbid curiosity. 

"Oh! We never did anything." Caroline insisted. "I would never do that to you, Bex." She smiled sadly. 

"Wait. If you and Stefan never...that would mean-" Caroline watched as Rebekah put all the pieces together in her head. "Is this my niece?" Caroline bit her lip and stared at the ground, silently confirming Rebekah's suspicions. "Oh my God." 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you but we haven't really kept in touch." 

"Does Klaus know?" Rebekah's reaction bordered on anger and Caroline felt the guilt sinking in. 

"No. And he can't." 

"He deserves to know!" Rebekah argued. She knew it would destroy her brother to find out he had missed any part of his child's life. 

"He wants nothing to do with me! How do you think he's going to react when he finds out?" Caroline defended herself. She knew how it would look. When their plan to steal their money didn't work she trapped the famous billionaire by having his child.

"Your child deserves to know her father. Klaus will be a good father but you have to give him a chance." 

"It's not like I can just call him up and be like hey you have a daughter. Even if I tried he wouldn't take my call." 

Caroline sat on the bed in their hotel room. She had been sitting at the hotel bar with Stefan but he had gone dancing with a woman he had met. She was watching them twirl around and her heart ached. She missed Klaus. All she wanted to do was hear his voice. 

She fidgeted with her phone until she managed to find his contact. She pressed call and waited, assuming he would just let it go to voicemail.  Hearing his voice recording was better than nothing. Instead, he had ended the call immediately, leaving her with nothing. 

"I know you don't agree with how I'm handling it but I don't know what else to do." Caroline sighed. Hope started to stir in her arms, sensing her mother's discomfort. "I'm going to go put her down," Caroline announced before carrying her daughter to her crib. 

Rebekah sat, still in awe of the news of the newest Mikaelson. One thing was clear; there was no way she was getting everyone to New Orleans. She was going to need a new plan. But her goal was more important than ever. 

Rebekah slipped on her shoes and left the apartment before Caroline returned. She had an idea but it was crazy. She got outside, almost running into Stefan who was bringing back food. 

"What are you doing out here?" He wondered as he approached the front door. 

"I needed some air." She shrugged. "Actually, I was wondering if I could borrow your car."