𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐂𝐄 | 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 [𝟐]

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

CHAPTER THIRTEEN | SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

THREE YEARS HAD PASSED AND KLARA ADAMS HATED STEFAN SALVATORE. The relationship had ended based on a mutual decision that Stefan couldn't risk putting Klara or the girls in danger. But, once Rayna Cruz was locked up, and Stefan was no longer a moving target, he never returned back to her, despite promising that he would. All she had left to focus on was Lizzie and Josie. She had to put them first, before anything else. She was the closest thing that they had to a mother and Klara vowed to protect that— to protect them.

"Mommy, she hit me!" Josie yelled out abruptly which caused Klara to shake from her daydream. 

The blonde vampire exhaled deeply and glared between her two daughters. "Elizabeth. What did I tell you about hitting?" Klara folded her arms across her chest as she grabbed the twins' coats from the hanger.

"She's lying!" The little blonde girl poked her tongue right out at Josie, which caused her to gasp. 

After Klara handed Lizzie and Josie their jackets, the vampire exhaled deeply. "Look, can you two please just be good at this playdate otherwise I'm going to have to tell Dion's Mommy that we can't do this anymore because you can't behave."

A look of sadness fell across the children's faces as they glanced between each other and then nodded slowly. "We're sorry." They both said at exactly the same time before a car horn sounded from out the front of the house.

"They're here! Okay, girls, have you got everything?" Klara asked as she watched the two jump up and down excitedly. She chuckled softly and wandered over to open the front door. She waved to Dion's mother, who stood by the car with a door open for the twins. "Have a great time, I love you!" Klara yelled as the two ran out of the house.

"Bye, Mommy!" 

"And—peace." A breath of relief escaped Klara's lips as she shut the front door and wandered into the living room, where she saw Alaric sat on a chair going through paperwork. 

"Did they get off okay?" The human raised an eyebrow and glanced out of the window to the car that had already driven away.

"Relax. They're fine. Claire knows to call me if there are any problems. I'm gonna finish sorting their laundry before they get back."

As Klara wandered up the staircase, she thought about her life and how she and Alaric wanted to create a stable home environment for their girls. They wanted to give them a childhood they were both denied, and that would start with two stable parents. Though they slept in separate bedrooms, Klara and Alaric were engaged to be married. The Adams vampire knew that Alaric loved her, but she knew that she could never feel that way about a person ever again— not after Stefan.