Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

I Need You

Abigail's favorite way to spend days off was with her family. Watching the girls as they had three conversations at once, helping them with whatever they needed help with, sitting with them if only to sit with them. So, her phone ringing couldn't really pull her away from their tea parties. Not usually. But seeing as Alaric hadn't made it into the living room with the actual tea, she got up to answer it.

She returned to see Alaric sitting at the head of the small table in one of her aprons with a smile that grew at the sight of her. The table had been filled, plates had been made, and the open space for her was calling. But she was frozen.

"Look what Daddy made!" Josie exclaimed.

Lizzie waved her forward. "Come on, Mommy!"

A kiss on the top of their heads took her the long way to her spot. "What do we have here?"

"Um..." He found everything she was trying to hide but kept it locked away. "We've got finger sandwiches, fruit cups, and brownies that are nowhere near as good as yours."

"Looks amazing!" She sipped her tea. "Why, I do declare this is some of the best purple tea I have ever had!"

On the front porch steps, Abigail and Alaric watched Lizzie and Josie play. They chased each other through the yard, around the house, and back again in the afternoon sun. She could see herself in them, especially when Josie looked over her shoulder as she closed her journal, so she smiled. It was all her daughter needed to return to her sister, it was all she would have needed to return to hers.

"I can't even write it to Elena. I could barely say it to Jeremy." Abigail put her journal down between them. "How do we tell them?"

"I, uh, I don't know. How do you explain loss to children? Grief..." Interlocking his fingers with hers, he pulled her hand into his lap. "I am so sorry."

"I just talked to him. If I had known it would've been the last time, I would have made him stay on the phone longer. I would have told him I was proud of him, that we all were. That we loved him." She looked up to find his expression as sad as hers. "Tyler deserved more than to be collateral damage in whatever game Sybil's playing with Damon."

Seline walked up the sidewalk. "Hey!"

"Hey." Alaric stood up. "What are you doing here on the weekend?"

"Abigail called me and told me you guys might need some extra help. That you and your friends lost someone," Seline said. "I'm happy to take the girls for the day, if you need me to."

"I mean, th-that'd be a huge help actually."

Abigail joined them in standing. "Thank you."

"Were you close with him?" Seline asked.

Alaric spoke for both of them, "Yeah, he was one of us. He was family."

"I get it. I lost my family, too."

The way she said it could not stop Abigail from asking, "Everyone?"

"I have a sister, but we're sort of estranged."

"I'm sorry. I, uh, my sister is..." Shaking her head, she picked up where she could, "Tyler's parents died when we were in high school. He was the only Lockwood left. Now it's just a whole legacy, gone."

"I'm sure whoever Tyler is, he's at peace and he knows he was loved."

"Thank you." Alaric walked down the front steps. "We really need to head out. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all! Go." Seline smiled. "I thought it might be nice to take the twins to the carnival."

"Yeah, they would love that." Around the side of the house, Abigail called, "Lizzie, Josie, look who is here!"