Tiberius Salvatore: Mikaelson Extended

41

Rio was almost finished with feeding Rhea when Caroline and Enzo walked in. Rio was hoping that he'd have enough of a head start, but realised with their vampire-speed driving it wouldn't do any good. Rio had also hoped that they wouldn't bump into each other at this diner, there were hundreds of others Caroline and Enzo could have stopped at on their way to Virginia, but no luck there either. Rio also hoped they wouldn't be on the same route as him but he was beginning to realise that wishful thinking was not on his side today.
"Rio!" Caroline said as she finally noticed him. "Hey Anya!"
"Hi." She replied. She turned to Rio. "Hey, I'm gonna go toilet real quick. Give me Rhea so I can change her diaper while I'm in there too."
"Okay. Be careful." Rio said, gently placing Rhea in her baby carrier and passing her to Anya who'd picked up the baby bag.
"Is that Klaus's baby?"
"Who's Klaus?" Enzo asked.
"No." Rio frowned. "He had twins. But they both died, right after they were born. A month before Rhea."
"What were their names?"
"Hope and Grace."
"I'm sorry for their loss."
"Yeah, so am I. Klaus and Hayley are still so devastated. As they very well should be."
"Yeah, of course. So who's that baby?"
"Right before I found out Damon died I was in London with these old friends of Charlotte and I. Marissa was pregnant but she and Kevin were witches and from opposing covens. They're more or less a modern day witch version of Romeo and Juliet. When Marissa's dad found out she was pregnant, he killed Kevin. So Marissa ran away, contacted me and begged me to help her. I went to a guy-"
"A guy? You expect me to believe that you know 'a guy'?"
"I do have friends, Caroline."
"Yeah but your 'guy' sounds shady."
"So anyways, I went to a guy to arrange some sort of protection for Marissa but by the time I got back to where she was staying, she was dead. She slit her own wrists in the bathroom, with Rhea in the bedroom next to a note."
"Oh my god, that's so horrible."
"Yeah, it is. And about my 'guy' being so shady, you do know my best friend is the shadiest guy to exist, right?"
"Touché. So you going to New Orleans?"
"Actually no. Klaus wouldn't hear of it. His babies died in that town, he doesn't want baby Rhea to face the same fate."
"Oh, poor Klaus. I should probably call him."
"It might be safer than seeing him. He only lives an hour or so away from the bayou. It's a very..." Rio pretended to think of a word. "Woody place."
"Shut up!" Caroline shoved Rio, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.
"What's wrong with the woods?" Enzo said leaning forward, interested.
"Oh nothing's wrong with it." Rio smirked. "Caroline here apparently loves the woods, being so connected to nature and all."
"Shut up!" Caroline smacked him some more.
"I'm seriously missing something here."
"Sorry, she doesn't kiss and tell." Rio shrugged and leaned back. The waitress came back, with paper that she gave to Rio.
"Hey, your daughter told me to give this to you." She said. It read. 'Hey, Rio. Feeling a little sick. Taking a breath of fresh air, meet you in the car.'
"Guys, I got to go." He said, instantly sobering. "See you."
"Okay. Bye." Caroline smiled at him. Rio got out his wallet and put some money on the table before leaving.
"Anya." He said, once he got into the car.
"I know, I know. That was rude of me. I shouldn't have left like that-" She said.
"No, Anya. It's okay."
"I'm sorry, Rio. It's just- I don't know how you can laugh with her like that. How you don't hate them all. I don't get it. I'm trying but, they killed my mother."
"It's okay to hate them, sweetie. It's different for you. Me? I can't hate Caroline because in some ways she reminds me a lot of your mother. They both want to do good. And hating her means I have to hate my brothers, and I did. For over a year I hated them all. I hated everyone in that town. But then I slowly let them in. And it's not going to magically erase, but it was an accident. And I know your mother wouldn't want me to hate them. Hating people is a waste of my energy. I know how hard it is for you. To just reunite with your mother only for her to die? I know it hurts, and I know you hate them. I'm not going to tell you not to. It's something you need to come to terms with on your own. But I am here for you. Okay, sweetie?"
"Okay. I'm sorry."
"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for."
"I interrupted your conversations with friends."
"Hey, I'd rather spend time with you, kiddo. You and Rhea are my focus. My number ones."
"Sam?"
"Same doesn't even make the list!" Rio joked. "I have standards you know."
"Do you like Sam?"
"No! Why would you think that?"
"I don't know. You two have a sort of harmony."
"We're friends. That's all. Besides, I'm still in love with your mother."
"Do I need to set you up with dates?"
"I'm not ready for that."
"Do you think she might come back?"
"I can only hope, but I don't know. If she was coming back, I think she would have already."
"Maybe she will." Anya said. She looked at Rio, but Rhea's crying interrupted.
"Hey, baby. What's wrong?" he cooed as he reached back to pick her up. "Have we been ignoring you? Huh? Do you just want some company. Hey, look. It's your favourite big sister, over there. It's your only big sister. Her name's Anya. I'm your uncle Rio. I mean you can't understand us, obviously. But still."
"You're not going to introduce yourself as her dad?"
"No. She's the daughter of a friend. I'm going to honour that friend and teach her all about her biological parents. They don't deserve any less."