Chapter Text
“Klaus, hey I'm running a little late - So um... I wont be able to pick up the groceries. I'll try to be home by 8 ish. Oh and I'll bring dinner. Does Thai sound good? Bye!"
Klaus pressed the button to the elevator of his apartment as he played Caroline's voicemail- her chirpy voice instantly brightening his mood.
The blonde woman and her little daughter had moved in a little over two months ago.
And with them they bought their feminine charm and transformed Klaus' bachelor pad into something resembling a home.
And he couldn't complain.
The fridge was always stocked with actual food and not just beer and frozen dinners that he was usually used to.
Although he was mostly adept at cooking, due to him having lived independently as soon as he was done with school, he never had the time nor the patience to actually cook a full meal- hence the frozen dinners.
And even though Caroline's cooking skills were limited to sandwiches and making coffee on the coffee maker, she was on a health food kick, wanting to get back in shape after her delivery. Which meant that there was a wide variety of healthy options available in the fridge.
Klaus and Caroline has worked out a pretty good routine. She would pick up the weekly grocery and she was the one who had a fixed work schedule and was hence able to pick up stuff on the way home from work.
They split everything. From bills to bathroom counters. And he had learnt very quickly that Caroline was borderline neurotic and needed everything in the bathroom organised a certain way.
And since he was the only member of the household to use minimal toiletries (babies needed more product than a teenage girl- who knew?) all his stuff were moved into the bottom cupboard.
-"No way am I keeping my scented candles and lotions and my makeup in the bottom drawer Klaus! That's where the cockroaches are.
And seriously? You want Charlie to use moth eaten bath stuff? What kind of a person are you?"
And all Klaus could do is nod and agree.
She had removed all the expired products from the cabinets.
-"Your contact lens solution expired two years ago, Klaus! Don't tell me you're still using it."
She had gotten rid of the dried up paint gunk from the coffee table and the floor.
-"How ever did you manage to live here? You and Stefan are both Neanderthals."
She had even cleared out his closet for him one afternoon forgoing all his warning against entering his room
-"What the actual fuck, Caroline?" He asked as he came home to find her knee deep in his clothes a week after she had moved in.
She glanced up at him sheepishly.
"I was cleaning and then I was all done cleaning. And it was either your room or the studio. I didn't touch your bed and don't worry I didn't snoop through your stuff- I was just organising your clothes." She looked up at him all big eyes and innocent expression.
He sighed and rubbed his face, flopping down on his bed.
"You're colour coding my clothes now?" He asked as she went back to sorting without any issues.
"Not exactly. Well it's colour coding plus sorting by material. So for example, if you're looking for black denim, then you can find it here; whereas black woollen will be over here"
She pointed at random spots on his closet.
"That makes absolutely no sense, love- no offence."
She glared up at him as he smiled down at her from his position on the bed.
In conclusion, Klaus was glad the blonde decided to move in to his apartment.
The elevator dinged open and he walked to his door, nodding politely at Mr Griffith who cast him an unsure glance with narrowed eyes.
The door to his apartment flung open before he could take his key out.
"Mr Mikaelson, thank god you're here." Caroline's nanny heaved a big sigh of relief.
Klaus was always weary of the older woman and tried his best to avoid her.
"Can I help you?" He questioned.
"My hour is up. Miss Forbes is late. I'm late for my shift at the store."
"You can't leave. Who's gonna look after the baby then?" He asked throwing a glance at the clock that showed that it was only quarter past four.
"Not my problem, Mr Mikaelson " the woman shrugged as she gathered her things.
He hurriedly took his phone out and called Caroline.
"Hey what's wrong?" She answered in two rings.
"Your baby sitter is leaving."
He heard her mutter a curse
"Oh no. What do I do?" She murmured.
"I don't care what you do, Forbes - but I'm not baby sitting." He said defiantly.
"Klaus, please, please. I'll try to get home as soon as I can. Can you please hold fort for at least another hour?" She begged
This woman will be the death of him.
"Caroline..." he warned.
"Please Klaus, I promise I'll make it up to you. Anything you want- I promise."
He blinked, noting how suggestive it sounded.
"You're owe me, Forbes." He said after a moment.
He shook his head and hung up after one more reassurance, hearing her rambling strings of gratitude .
He sighed dejectedly. He can't seem to keep a clear head while talking to the blonde. He just had to act like a whimpering school boy at her beck and call. All she had to do was bat her eyes and he would bend over backwards. And this was not Klaus Mikaelson.
He shut the door behind him as the nanny left, collapsing on to the couch, his jacket and boots still on.
A shrill cry sounded through the room just as he closed his eyes.
He walked into the room where the ear piercing screams were coming from. Even though she has been living under the same roof as him for almost three months, he hadn't interacted with her all that much.
Mostly, his interaction with his housemates were confined to having breakfast together- he realised that Caroline was just as dependent on coffee as he was; and maybe an occasional dinner with Caroline. She worked from nine to five and he mostly worked mornings at the gallery and nights at his home studio- true artists never stop working.
The baby lifted her head when he came across her line of vision.
Her wails turned into sniffles and she extended her arms, wanting to be picked up.
Klaus stood next to the crib awkwardly.
"Uh hey... " he winced at how stupid he sounded. "Your mum will be here soon, so go back to sleep till then, alright?"
The baby gulped as she stared at him and her face started to turn red once again.
Klaus extended an arm into the crib and patted her awkwardly, trying to soothe the screaming child.
"Shh... shh... you're ok, sweetheart. Everything is fine."
The child was inconsolable. And Klaus was slightly worried with how red she seemed to get, her voice raising an octave with each passing second.
He sighed and extended both hands into the crib picking the small child up gingerly.
He wasn't exactly sure how one was supposed to hold a baby. Was he supposed to support the head? Or was she able to hold it up her self? Should he keep his hand underneath her bottom or across her back?
He manoeuvred his arms awkwardly trying to mimic they way he had seen Caroline hold her.
The baby peered up at him curiously, her sobs dying down. A part of Klaus was worried that she would start screaming again noticing that it was him, practically a stranger, holding her and not her mother.
But the child seemed to have no qualms. She seemed to support her head by herself fairly well. She pawed at the lapels of his jacket and looped a finger through his wolf pendant and rested her head against his heart.
He sensed his heart beat starting to slow as the child relaxed in his arms.
He heaved a sigh of relief and decided that the baby was held securely enough in his arms for him to move around.
He slowly walked towards the living room and sat down. He contemplated removing his jacket and boots in order to get more comfortable, but he didn't want the child getting jostled and another scream attack starting. His ears couldn't handle another one.
He shifted his arms around, getting more comfortable holding a child with each passing minute, so that the child was cradled in a better position against him.
She peered up at him from her place against his chest and gave a drooly smile that made his heart twinge in an unfamiliar way. And then he noticed that the little devil had already left a puddle of drool over his shirt.
"You know- this is my favourite shirt. "
She blinked and babbled nonsensically at him reaching out her hand.
He held her tiny fist and ran a thumb over it almost instinctively.
"Yes, that's right. It's my lucky shirt. I wore it for a very important meeting today. And you got your drool all over it."
She babbled some more. And Klaus was enthralled. He thought she way too young to start babbling.
He had a vague memory of his baby brother Henrik, babbling the same kind of nonsense at him, when he was roughly the same age as the little one on in his lap. He was too young to remember Kol and Bekah at that age. His earliest memories with them being building a train track with Kol and splattering bright red paint all over Bekah's dolls and her tattling to his father and him getting punished as a result.
He shook his head, the motion making the baby laugh, clearing his thoughts.
"Do you crawl yet?" He asked trying to remember if has seen her crawling. Then he decided against it, thinking that Caroline would have probably baby proofed every inch of the apartment had the child started moving about.
She started to squirm around in his lap, starting to get restless. She lifted herself into a sitting position on his lap, to his great surprise, and blinked at him.
"Um... do you need a toy?"
He noticed a bright red rattle next to him on the couch and handed it to her. She put it in her mouth for a second and then flung it aside.
"I'll take that as a no then."
She started to fuss some more. And Klaus was at a loss. How do you entertain a small person?
He bounced her on his knee like how he had seen Caroline do, but that only captured her attention for a minute before she turned red again.
"Alright, you don't wanna sit anymore?" He asked .
"Ok we will get up and look at the pretty lights." He walked over to the big windows overlooking the New York skyline.
Charlie sniffled against his shirt and reached a hand towards the window, smacking her tiny hand against the glass.
"Pretty right? You know, this window was what made me fall in love with this apartment when I first moved here. "
Charlie had a lot to say about that as she babbled, very seriously.
"You like it too?" He bounced her in his arms a bit. "And I used to sit here by the window and draw all day and night."
Her blue green eyes were engaged in his as she seemingly listened to every word he had to say.
"You know I got this flat from my dad. He was something like yours, I bet. He wasn't too into the idea of having me either."
His heart clenched at how he felt connected to the small child in this sense.
"I had two dads who felt that they were better off without me. So you're not missing out on anything, love. Having a dad is not all it's cracked up to be."
He sighed.
"And what ever other family I did have, decided they didn't want me either. But that's where we are different, aren't we little one? You have people who love you."
He got lost in his thoughts as he pondered.
The baby in his arms reached out and touched his cheek and cooed when she noticed the lack of attention.
He turned his eyes back to the tiny demanding blonde.
"Wait- are you hungry? Am I supposed to feed you something?" He asked out loud turning back to look the clock on the wall. "Your mother didn't give me any instructions."
"Blasted woman." He cursed under his breath half heartedly.
He didn't even know how to prepare a bottle. He didn't even know if she had teeth.
He pulled down her bottom lip and saw a tiny white spot on her lower gum.
"That's teeth right?" She took the opportunity to put his finger in her mouth to gnaw.
Ew. He cringed at the sensation and softly pried his finger away from her mouth, wiping his hand on his pants.
"Don't chew on people, love. It's unhygienic."
He walked them over to the kitchen and put her in her high chair. She pouted slightly at the change in location but easily got distracted with a teething ring he shoved her way.
He slipped his drool soaked jacket off and opened the fridge and peered inside. He had seen some jars of baby food in there. But he didn't know if there was a specific one he was supposed to give her.
Or was he supposed to give her a bottle? Or wait- did Caroline still breastfeed her? The picture that popped into his mind were certainly not appropriate for the present company he was keeping, so he quickly brushed that thought aside.
He picked up a jar of baby food that said mixed berries but didn't look or smell anything like berries.
He took a plastic Disney princess spoon, that he knew to be hers, from the drawer and scooped up a tiny amount of the purple gunk.
He smelled it cautiously and nearly gagged before bringing it towards the child's mouth.
She opened up her mouth and nibbled at the gunk, seeming to enjoy the flavour.
"How much am I supposed to feed you anyway? Certainly not the whole bottle." He eyed the jar.
The baby babbled, reaching for the jar from her high chair.
He quickly gave her another spoonful.
"You know, I've never fed someone else before- not even my siblings." He pondered. "It's weirdly domesticating and I don't know how I feel about this."
She tilted her head and looked at him, drool mixed with baby food running down her chin.
He cursed as he saw that her white dress was now stained purple. He grabbed a paper napkin and wiped at her face.
"Your mum can't blame me for ruining your pretty dress. Babysitting you was not part of our agreement." He tried to dab at the stain.
"In fact, I was completely against the idea of a child living in my house."
He fed her two more spoonfuls, easily manoeuvring the spilled bit back into her mouth from her chin.
"But you're not that bad now, are you?" He smiled at the child in question and she smiled back at him brilliantly- a smile that mirrored her mother's.
"You're better company than I thought you would be." He gave her a final spoonful. He decided that five tablespoons would be sufficient and she didn't seem as eager to eat as she did in the beginning.
He kept the jar aside and picked her up and quickly realised that the spillage was worse than he realised. Her entire body was covered in purple goo.
He sighed realising that his shirt had gotten stained too when he held her.
"Your mum seriously owes me."
He looked at the sticky child in despondence.
Was he supposed to change her out of these clothes?
He picked up his phone and called Caroline.
It rang twice and went straight to voice mail.
"Caroline- you seriously owe me." He muttered and hung up.
"Well I'll give you a bath then?" He asked the child.
His heart not allowing her to remain soiled till her mum arrived.
He carried her towards their shared bathroom and placed her on the floor. And he was happy to see that she sat quiet easily holding her back up by herself.
He turned the tap on and tried to get it into the optimum temperature. How hot was a baby's bath supposed to be? Aren't they more sensitive to temperature than an adult?
He added her rubber ducky that was near the sink, into the bath; him having been creeped out by the duck on more than one occasion.
He quickly tapped into google to read up on how to give a bath to an infant.
"You don't have your umbilical cord, do you?" He turned away from his phone to look at the baby only to find out that she was gone.
His heart rose up to his throat and a wave of nausea struck him.
Fuck!
"Charlie?" He called looking all around the bathroom. He shut the tap off and scampered into the living area.
"Charlie?"
He heard some babbling coming near the kitchen. He walked into the area to see Charlie on all four limbs gnawing at the wooden handle of a kitchen drawer.
He sighed in relief and clutched his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.
"Come here, you little devil" he scooped her up into his arms, pressing her against his chest.
She giggled in response thinking it to be a game.
"Since when do you crawl?" He laughed in relief.
"If that was your first time crawling then that's punishment enough for your mother." He said as he easily slipped the dress and the thankfully clean diaper off.
He tested the temperature of the water and slowly placed the child in. Lukewarm- just as google said.
He let her splash around for a second before he opened the drawer full of her products.
"Why do you have so many things? Oh wait- was I supposed to add this bubble thing to the bath?" He read the contents of the bottle, then decided against it, instead picking up a bottle of shampoo and body wash.
"I think you have more products than your mum, love. And that's saying something considering she took up two whole bathroom drawers."
He rubbed some shampoo through her curls hoping he was doing the right thing. His fingers tickled against her scalp and she giggled in response. He smiled at that helplessly.
"You know something Charlie? There's something about the way you and your mum laughs. Something so bright- I can't explain it."
He took a dollop of body wash.
"Is that a Forbes women thing? Or is it just a Caroline and Charlie thing?" He tickled her belly, wanting to hear her laugh once again.
Suddenly an absolutely foul stench hit him. And he was dazed for a second wondering where it came from.
He sniffed the air for two seconds before looking down at the bath. Oh for gods sake-
"Ugh Charlie" he cried disgusted.
The baby in question blinked up at him innocently.
"How on earth am I supposed to clean that up?" He gagged at the stench.
He kept a firm hold on the child and picked up his phone, dialling Caroline once again.
He sighed when it went into voice mail. He hung up and went over to google and swiftly typed- 'what to do when child poops in bath'.
He picked the giggly child up and decided to finish the rest of her bath in the sink, hoping to whatever higher power that he was cleaning her well enough.
He then covered her with a towel and drained the bath- like how google said.
Ok Mikaelson, change her, put her in the crib, remove the poop and clean the tub. Four steps - you can do it. He gave himself a pep talk.
He placed her on the changing table and found her diaper. He looked at it for a moment trying to decide how to put the contraption on the squirming child. Hasn't he seen women on tv do this a million times before?
"Two of my brothers have children you know? And even my older sister I think." He mused, finally figuring out how the tabs on the diaper work.
"And one I presume is your age. And sometimes I wonder how things would've been if the situation was different. "
"Maybe looking after you is good practice for if ever I get to meet my nieces and nephews." He gave the child a sad smile.
The baby girl shoved her entire fist in her mouth.
"Don't tell me you're hungry again." He rubbed her round belly slightly, eliciting a giggle.
"I wouldn't be too surprised considering how much came out of you in the bath" he shuddered thinking of how he had to go back to clean it up.
He picked up a onesie similar to what she usually wears around the house and put it on her.
"Now- sleep if you want to. Or you can relax in your crib for a bit ok. I gotta clean up the mess you made in the bath."
He picked up the child and placed her in the crib. He smiled when he saw that the stuffed wolf he had offhandedly gotten her for Christmas was one amongst the many plush toys in her crib.
She picked up the said wolf and gnawed on his head as soon as he put her down.
Her wail hit him as soon as he stepped into the bathroom and he backtracked back into her room.
"Hey, what's with all the shouting?" He asked the red faced child sitting up in the crib reaching out to him.
He sighed and picked her up. "I would've left the cleaning of the bath to your mum, but I have no clue when she'll get home. And it's not very sanitary to leave poo like that now, is it?" He asked bouncing her, her cries now stifled to silent sobs, now that he had picked her up.
He decided to put her in her movable play pen and dragged it to the bathroom.
"There- now you can watch me clean up your mess" he said as he took practically the entire roll of toilet paper to pick up the mess.
"I'll never let you live this down, you know." He joked to the baby. "I mean- if by a rare chance your mother and I are still in contact in the future." He winced slightly.
"But hey- Stefan is your godfather and he's one of my best mates and he's mates with your mum too."
He sighed. Why is he trying to explain himself to a baby?
"What time do you go to bed?" He asked, taking her out of the play pen and keeping it back in its position in the living room.
He remembers that she's usually in bed by the time he gets back home from the gallery.
But he couldn't handle another crying episode by attempting to leave her alone in the crib.
Sighing dejectedly, he took her to his room and placed her on his bed.
She sat up immediately, looking around the unfamiliar place.
"You're lucky I haven't bought a bird up here since your mum showed up." He muttered as he slipped off his dirty shirt and pulled his sweats on.
"Now, how do you unwind before bed?" He sat down on the bed next her and picked up his laptop.
"Does your mum read you stories? She sings right? Caroline sings?" he remembers hearing her beautiful voice streaming in from the shower almost every morning.
The baby peered curiously into the laptop, leaning against him.
"How about some cartoons? My mum used to let my siblings and I watch a lot of cartoons before going to bed.
He opened up YouTube and pulled up some random cartoon he remembered as a child.
Charlie giggled and sloppily clapped her hands as the cartoon figures ran about the screen.
He placed a pillow on the other side of the child as he leaned back against the headboard, closing his eyes for a second.
"Klaus. Klaus. Wake up."
He opened his eyes blearily. His room was dark and the only light was coming from the warm laptop resting on his stomach.
"Huh?"
He heard a soft giggle. "Don't you want dinner? I bought food."
He rubbed his eyes and sat up, registering the figure as Caroline.
His heart jumped and he looked to his right, the sheets empty.
"Char- Charlie?" He mumbled sleepily.
"She's asleep in her crib. You guys looked super cute, all cuddled together. I couldn't help but take pictures" the blonde clutched her hands to her chest.
He sighed and got up and rubbed his face. "We had a long day"
He exited the room, Caroline following behind. Thai food containers littered the dining room table.
"Dinner, as promised." She smiled gesturing at the take out boxes.
Klaus looked at her for a second before closing his eyes and shook his head.
"Dinner." He said
"Yeah dinner" she shrugged looking at the food.
"No- you said you owed me. I entertained, fed and bathed your child- not to mentioned cleaned up her little accident in the tub." He rolled his eyes.
"So, buy me dinner." He smiled enunciating each word.
She gave a confused expression. "I buy us dinner all the time."
Klaus shook his head and laughed. "No sweetheart. Buy me dinner, as in a date." He smirked.
Her jaw dropped slightly.
"You love, have to take me out on a date and you better make it the most memorable night of my life."
He gave her confused face a slight pat on the cheek and sat down at the table to dig into the food.
"But- but..." she spluttered.
He couldn't help the laughter that came out seeing her still stand in the same spot, confusion still marring her face.
"Oh and Charlie started to crawl- you missed that, by the way." He teased.
"Seriously? What the hell!" She snapped out of her reverie.
Caroline Forbes sat down next to her housemate, who was still doubled over laughing.
She glared at his antics as a plan formulated in her head.
Klaus Mikaelson wouldn't know what hit him.