Forever Original | Alaric Saltzman

Chapter 74

Hilda woke up early the next morning to get the girls ready.

It seemed Hayley had also woken up early. They bustled around brushing the girls' hair and putting on their clothes. Alaric was downstairs helping the others get food, though they seemed to have wanted something more elegant and had somehow compelled several servers to come to their beck and call.

"One day," the two women heard Klaus saying as they led the girls out. "We're in the middle of nowhere, the house is cloaked, we weren't followed, and I'm not asking!"

The door opened, and everyone outside went silent at the sight of the three little girls. "Everybody," said Hayley as the Originals walked up to see their nieces. "Look who's awake."

Klaus had a look of shock on his face. He came to stand in front of his daughter, who looked up shyly, overwhelmed by all the people around her. "Hello," she said shakily.

"Hello," Klaus whispered back. Hope looked at him for only a moment longer before tugging at Hayley's shirt. "Mom, can I go play in the garden?"

Hayley stroked her hair reassuringly. "Yeah, sure." Hope gave her a small smile before trotting off.

The twins were far too excited to back out of the hellos. "Hope's just shy," giggled Lizzie when she saw Klaus looking forlorn. She and Josie held their hands out to whoever wanted to shake it first.

Klaus smiled politely and bent down a bit, shaking their hands. "It's good to see you two now that you're bigger," he told them.

"You're Uncle Nik," said Josie proudly. "My mama showed me a picture of you."

"Hope says you paint," added Lizzie. "No one else paints."

"Perhaps she and I can show you two how," he told them, making the twins grin appreciatively.

Kol decided he wanted to kneel down to their level. The twins immediately knew who he was as well. "Uncle Kol," they said in unison. "Mama's twin."

"Remind me again," he teased. "Which one's Astrid and which one's Olivia?"

"I'm Josette Olivia," corrected Josie.

"And I'm Elizabeth Astrid," Lizzie continued.

Kol pretended to smack himself on the head. "I forget. You two grew a lot, didn't you? You're almost as tall as me!"

"Only because you're sitting," Lizzie pointed out. She squealed and put a finger on his arm, touching the sleeve of his shirt. "Blue is my favorite color!" She pointed at Freya's shirt, which was also blue.

"Is it now?" Kol asked. "It's my favorite color, too."

"Well, if I'd have known we all had to wear our favorite colors, I wouldn't have worn black," laughed Rebekah as she, too, knelt down. Her eyes shone lovingly as she opened her arms, inviting the girls in for a hug. They jumped in immediately, and Hilda could see how happy Rebekah felt, knowing that she could finally spend time with all her nieces. "You two are so precious."

"I look like you, Aunt Bex," said Lizzie, holding up a strand of her own blonde hair. "And Aunt Freya."

Freya smiled at her. "Yes, you do. We're the only three blondes in the family."

"My hair's brown like yours," said Josie, pointing at Elijah, though she let her head tilt to the side in amusement. "Mama and Papa were right. You always wear a suit."

Elijah pretended to be offended, holding his chest. "I wanted to look fancy. I was told we were meeting three princesses today."

"Oh, Elijah, that makes the rest of us look bad!" said Rebekah.