𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄 | 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 [𝟐]

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄

CHAPTER TWELVE | MOONLIGHT ON THE BAYOU

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

SINCE THE BABIES WERE BORN, KLARA HAD REMAINED IN HOSPITAL FOR OBSERVATION. She couldn't help but be worried about Stefan and where he was, but she thought about the babies as a distraction— since his departure after he was marked by Rayna Cruz, the two babies were the only distraction Klara had.

"Oh, another checkup?" Klara rolled her eyes as Alaric strolled into her hospital room with a duffle bag over his shoulder. "What's with the face, Ric?"

"I'm moving to Dallas and I'm leaving today." He revealed immediately with a shrug as Klara's eyes widened immediately. "After I saw their little faces yesterday, everything changed. 

"Oh." A sigh left Klara's lips. "Is this about Rayna Cruz? Because, I mean she's probably very far away from here, tracking my boyfriend who is also very far away from here."

"No. It's not about her." Alaric set down his duffle bag onto a table and then turned back to Klara. "It's about Jo and the promise I made to her to leave town after we got married. And we know how that turned out, okay? So, I'm not making that mistake twice and certainly not with my kids."

"Right, okay, but I think you're underestimating how hard one newborn is. Let alone two?" Klara chuckled softly and titled her head toward the man. "Besides, you're dealing with two personalities, which may be different and there's only one of you, Ric."

"I know. And stopping every ninety minutes. I get it. Which is why I've hired a nurse to come with me." He shrugged immediately as he watched her roll her eyes. "Come on, Klara. I didn't have any other option."

"Uh. Me. I'm the other option." She raised an eyebrow as Alaric folded his arms across his chest. "I mean, I have nothing here at the moment since Stefan's away god knows where and these babies are the only distraction I have from my anxious spiral."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Alaric agreed to let Alaric Klara accompany him to Dallas with Lizzie and Josie. As he drove, the two babies cried in the back of the car. The blonde vampire gave him a pointed look as if to say she was right and then tried her best to soothe them.

"Alright." A sigh left Alaric's lips as he tried to speak over the sounds of the cries. "You were right, is that what you want me to say?"

"Well, I usually am." Klara shrugged with a smile and then grabbed her phone that vibrated in the cupholder. "Care, is there any news on Stefan?"

"Nothing yet. Matt hasn't managed to Rayna's location and Stefan's gone completely off the map, too." Caroline revealed stressfully as Klara threw her hand up to her forehead. "He's not returning anyone's calls, either. Have you tried to call him?"