Forever Original | Alaric Saltzman

Chapter 36

Freya was in shock.

Hilda sat numbly beside her, feeling exhausted after letting her older sister into her mind. It was clear from the look on Freya's face that she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Yep," Hilda spoke for her, getting up and brushing down her shirt. "So welcome to the family. Be ready to be mistreated because Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah are their own little cult. If you'll excuse me, I want to sleep."

Freya nodded. "Of course. I would like for us to meet again soon... if that's possible."

Hilda offered her a smile. "I'd like that. I want to be able to trust you, Freya. I really do."

"I want to help you, sister," replied the witch. "In any way that I can. Whether it's making sure you and Kol get the recognition you deserve or mending the relationship between you and Mikael... I can't believe that you've been treated like this. It's unacceptable."

The younger sister nodded, not wishing to speak anymore. She walked back through the streets, eager to arrive home.

Before she made it to the Compound, she saw an incoming call from Alaric. "Hey," she answered softly. "How are things going?"

"They're alright. But how are you?"

"I'm fine. What news do you have?"

Alaric let out a soft breath. "Alright. Bad news first. Um, Liz Forbes died, and Caroline's not taking it too well... she shut off her humanity."

"Oh my... that poor girl. That's terrible. My condolences for her... Elizabeth seemed like such a good woman when I met her."

"Yeah... the loss is hitting Caroline really hard... Um, in better news, Bonnie is back. Kai actually helped out with that."

"Did he? That's a good sign."

"It seems he did get some more positive traits after his Merge with Luke." He then paused. "Jeez, I don't know how to say this next part so I'm just gonna blurt it out. Jo and I are getting married."

Hilda nearly snapped the phone in half. "Oh, congratulations!" she said brightly. She was genuinely happy, but the lingering rage directed toward her siblings threatened to burst out in that moment due to her jealousy. "That's amazing! How did you propose?"

"Not in the best way, honestly, I think I really scared her at first."

"Aw, what happened?"

"Well... um... she's pregnant."

It took everything for Hilda not to fly into a fit. "Wow," she said instead. "She's... pregnant. With... your child?"

"Yep. I had already been planning to propose but I did it right after we found out and initially I think it terrified her, but I made it clear I already wanted to and it wasn't just because of the baby. The way we discovered it all was strange. Kai came... those side effects you mentioned became prevalent. He was dying. He needed Jo's magic and she gave it to him, and before he left, he told her she was pregnant. You were right about his heightened senses."

Hilda felt a few gentle tears rolling down her face. "Congratulations, Alaric," she said as steadily as she could. "This... is amazing. You both like the idea of a family, of kids, and all that... it's going to be wonderful. A mom who's a brilliant doctor, a dad who's a Professor for the supernatural... they've got a really good set of parents. Maybe they can be friends with Hope. They're not that far off in age."

"I'd like that. Hope seems like a really awesome kid and that's the kind of influence I want for mine." She could hear the distinct noise of him running his tongue over his lips. "Hilda, it would mean a lot to me if you were to come to Jo and I's wedding. We're thinking the end of June would be nice."