The Perfect Mikaelson's

144|| Derek 🐺

Derek

Abbie excuses herself, heading into the house to finish marking off items on her never ending list. We all did the best we could to help, but she just followed in behind us five minutes later to fix it.

I take the opportunity and follow her, leaving Stefan to deal with Kol and the boys on his own, which isn't as bad as it sounds. If the boys listen to anyone besides Abbie, it's Stefan. I don't know what I did wrong, but I swear they do that to drive both Damon and I mad.

Abbie disappears into one of the guest rooms, but before I can catch up, I spot Damon in the kids room, straightening it up. It's something Abbie does a couple times out of the day, but hasn't since she's had her hands full.

Knocking against the frame, he looks up at me before huffing and resuming his tasks. "If you're coming to yell at me not to parent your kid, then the message is received. I doubt Eli even set the fire to begin with."

Propping up in the doorway, I shrug. "You're probably right, but I also know Eli is a firebug himself, so we really don't know." He hums, tossing cars and remote control into the toy box. "That's not why I came up here though, I mean, yeah, I wanted to talk about what just happened, but not to tell you not to be a parent."

He looks up at me, his hand freezing midair with toys. "In case you missed it, Abbie seems to think I should stay back and let them burn down the house."

"You and I both know that's not what she said. She was scared and so were the rest of us. Nobody knew what happened. We just saw the fire and the boys right there. We moved without thinking and the adrenaline hit us after things calmed down. I don't blame you for reprimanding the boys, but I see why Abbie freaked."

"Because I said something to your kid." He slams a toy in the box, anger etched into his face. "No, I'm sorry. Yours and Abbie's kids. I don't get a say in their lives."

"You have a bigger say than you realize. She doesn't decide anything about Easton until she talks to you. There's been a few times where we've talked about something for Haidyn and Eli, but she still wants to talk to you about it because it could affect Easton. We're not divided in this and nobody holds more power than the other. All this was, was a simple misunderstanding because emotions were running high."

"Then why was I getting yelled at? If I'm an equal in all this, then why was I cut off when dealing with the boys?"

"Because you were punishing them for learning." I turn towards Abbie standing behind me in the doorway, her eyes locked in on Damon. "They're curious and learning. They don't have full control over their magic yet and punishing them for that is cruel. You can't expect them to come out with a thousand years worth of knowledge in their back pocket."

"No, but they can still be taught right from wrong. Setting fires near the house, no? Setting your brother on fire? Sure, have at it." I've noticed Damon uses sarcasm or humor to deflect a lot. When he's really mad but trying to hide it, humor is his go to.

"And they're learning that. They learn by watching us and I'll admit I'm not the best role model at times. I use my powers to light candles or the fireplace when I don't feel like getting up. I'm literally doing the thing we tell them not to do, and trying to punish them for doing something so normal in their lives, is wrong. They don't understand they have to have more focus and practice to execute a simple spell. They just see me do it and want to try it."

"And what are we supposed to do when that goes wrong, Abbie? How do you want me to handle them burning down the house or possibly setting each other on fire?!" Abbie frowns, her mouth opening and then closing. I get where they're both coming from, and I'm kinda surprised it hasn't led into a full fledged argument yet.