Love & marriage

Every mother's son

Klaus stares at the invitation while he stands on the balcony overlooking the French Quarter. He eventually turns to head back into his bedroom, where Diana is laying flat on Klaus' bed. "We have enough enemies here. And now, the war for our home is to be fought against my own family." Klaus says to her.

"Your wretched mother and her disciples tried to put a carving knife through our baby's heart. I will happily add to the body count." Klaus smiles as Elijah walks in. " You will do no such thing. Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host."

"Well, her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children. I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul."

"Well, then. We have--" He checks his watch. "-- this afternoon to prepare for the worst."

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Klaus is in the dining room, where he is making arrangements for the evening's dinner with a group of (presumably compelled) caterers. One of the caterers gives him a choice of two different bottles of wine. "Skip the salad course. Let's not make this dreadful evening any longer than it needs to be."

Hayley walks in. "So, I guess letting Oliver live paid off. He just informed me your mother has a partner-in-crime... another witch."

"Building alliances in her quest to destroy us, I imagine."

"Why does she hate you so much, Klaus? She had six kids-- it's not like she doesn't have the maternal gene."

"Seven, actually. And, I think at one time, she loved us very much." Klaus, overwhelmed by the topic of conversation, turns away and anxiously begins folding napkins on the table before speaking again. "One died before I was born."

"I didn't know that."

"Years later, my brother Henrik was killed by the werewolves in our village. The loss of another child pushed my mother over the edge. So, she used her magic to turn us into immortals. I think that's when she loved us the most. But, it was her undoing. It triggered a sequence of events that led to the reveal of her long-held secret. My birth father was the werewolf whose pack killed my little brother. Of course, when Mikael found out, he murdered my real father, and so, my mother lost her lover, too."

"Wow. No wonder she's crazy."

"You know, my siblings used to tell each other she didn't hate us-- she hated herself for what we've become. I think they believed that even after she tried to kill us all."

"What did you believe?"

"I don't know. I just knew I wanted her dead."

"Well, every good story needs a wicked witch. It'll be all the more satisfying when we melt her." Hayley leaves and Klaus keeps preparing everything. Anna accidentally stumbles in. "Thomas, where's the shock bracelet? Charles is being a nuisance again..." She says, confusing Klaus' backside for Thomas.

"I'm not Thomas..." They freeze when they realize what happened. "Annabelle?"

"Dad?"

"Are you...alive?" He runs to his daughter and holds her face. "I thought I lost you. Your mother needs to know..."

"She knows."

"She knows?"

"Yes...I wanted to reveal myself later, but it seems like the compound isn't large enough."

"I would celebrate if it weren't for my mother coming home for dinner, but I promise we will celebrate soon enough."

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