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Her hair, when she was born, was an odd shade that Caroline Forbes had called peach. When all that fuzzy stuff had fallen out, the first silky curls were coppery gold. Hope watched her daughter as she fussed with her glorious hair today, her honey colour eyes shining. Hope looked at the beautiful white gown that hung on the back of the door, seeing it's reflection in the mirror her daughter was using. Her baptismal gown had been just as pure and white, trimmed in lace and pearl buttons, a gift from her grandpa Kol, and Livy was a small, sleeping cherub that day. The cherub was now a full grown angel, and she spotted her mother in the mirror and winked, waving a little. She smiled back and moved away, desperate to not seem desperate. Her friends laughed around her, daffodil-like in tender yellow and soft green. The older women, at the moment were elsewhere – Josie was getting dressed, Lizzie at the church making sure that all was in readiness, Freya was in charge of making sure the guests arriving from far away were all organized, leaving Caroline Forbes to attend her only granddaughter on her wedding day. And Hope was, since the wheels were set in motion, a little at a loss. Hope made her way down the stairs she'd run down as a child herself, and walked into the kitchen, feeling old and not at all like an almighty tribrid.
The fact that Livy was marrying a member of the Crescent Pack had been a concern, even though she and Nicholas Kenner (Hope’s late stepfathers grandnephew) had been an item for years. She had stood by the young wolf heir when his father died, was a calm voice of reason in the strange days that followed and even let Nick go when it seemed that their lives were not meant to be shared. He'd been her first date, study date, broken date, prom date since they'd first laid eyes on each other. Hope remembered the moment, if not the exact day, and she smiled. They were about seven, the same age she had been when Josie and her first met. Nick was completely overwhelmed. Two days earlier he'd been a boy who'd lost his only parent to car crash. Suddenly, he was the son of a member of the werewolf royalty and face to face with the daughter of the most powerful being on the planet. It was Livy that had broken the ice for Nick, and later that day caused a huge rift in her own family when she calmly looked across the table at her uncle Nik and suggested that he used his full name from now on, to avoid confusion, since she would be marrying Nick Kenner one day.
Hope opened the refrigerator and took out the orange juice, filling a glass carefully. A car pulled up and Landon and Cleo's daughter, Ayomi jumped out of the car, her dress slung over her shoulder. Cleo got out of the driver’s side, shouting to her daughter to slow down, that they weren't that late. Hope smiled. The Kirby brood had proven loyal and valuable friends for her twins, and Ayomi would become a member of the family herself soon enough. Odd to think Landon's daughter would soon be her daughter in law. Ayomi raced through the kitchen, dress flying behind her like yellow wings. The words, "Hi, Mrs. Mikaelson" and the scent of jasmine trailed behind her as her long legs took the stairs.
"She's always late. Even when she was born" Cleo's soft voice said, and Hope turned. "You look awful, Hope. It's not a funeral, it's a wedding" She smiled, and came all the way into the kitchen. "I came to see if Josie needed help"
"Up in our room. Where's Landon?" Hope asked, and Cleo laughed.
"At the church, limbering up. He said he wanted to be ready to follow through if Pastor Hill's voice gave out" Cleo's grin widened. "You're going to be okay, Hope"
"I know" Hope smiled, blushing a little. "Hard to accept. I'll be fine when Andrew goes. I can't wait to start saving money on groceries, even though he stopped living with us years ago"
"Please" Cleo scoffed, walking past Hope with a pat on the arm. "Come shopping with me and see what feeding five boys and one girl is like. Then we'll compare notes" She turned and pointed up. "Going to see Josie. Be back later. Find something constructive to do. You'll feel better" Cleo laughed and disappeared up the stairs. Hope went out on the balcony and waited sipping her juice. The day was perfect, warm, but not too much so, with just enough of a breeze. Perfect. Just for Olivia. The Kenner men were at the Royal Hotel in the French Quarter, and that's where Andrew and Lucas Mikaelson had gone. Josie had encouraged Hope to go there too, wisely mentioning that the wolf company would be good for her, keep her from being broody, but Hope had refused, not wanting to be away from her daughter longer than she had to be. Unreasonable, when Olivia had also moved away from home when she'd gone to college and then after, for medical school and her residency. Unlike Andrew and Lucas, her powers had developed later, and she barely used them. A life as a supernatural didn’t appeal to Olivia at all. She was a doctor, and a good one, not a superhero but hero in her own right. Like her grandmother and mother.
"I'm not a big fan of capes" Olivia jokes, and Hope looked up. Mind reading had been her own unique gift, her mother's special intuition heightened by her Tribrid genes. "And scrubs hide a multitude of sins." She came out onto the balcony still in jeans and the blue button down shirt and stand beside her mother. Olivia studied her face for a minute and waited.
"What's up, doc?" Hope asked, the phrase a joke between them long before the initials M.D. graced the end of her name.
"Aunt Cleo said you didn't look good. I'm here in a strictly official capacity" She folded her arms and check her. "Hold still"
"That's cheating. And unethical." Hope protested, but Olivia grabbed her arm and held her firmly.
"Shut up and take it, Mum. It's not like it hurts" She said, sounding like her mother.
"Nothing structurally wrong. So it's emotional" Olivia sighed. "I always wanted to be a psychiatrist, but being psychic takes away so much of the mystery"
"What am I going to do when you are married? You and Nick won't get to come to Mystic Falls often enough" Hope complained, and Olivia nodded, a twinkle in her eye that Hope knew often preceded some witty retort. But instead, she smiled gently and rested her head on her shoulder.
"I'll miss you too, Mum. But really, it's not like you couldn't just magical go over here when you wanted to. Give the kids at the hospital a treat. It's not like I can't make the trip to Mystic Falls for pot roast on Wednesdays either. I've been flying for years that’s why we have a private jet for"
"I know" Hope put her arm around her grown up daughter's shoulders. "I have something for you" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black velvet jewellery box. "This is nowhere near as extravagant as anything the rest of the family will give you, but it's important to me that you have it" Olivia took the box and opened it.
"Oh my" She gasped, taking the silver necklace out of the box. "Mommy's necklace"
"It has been in the Mikaelson family for a few years. She's going to give you Great Grandmother Forbes’ moonstone earrings later, too. Act surprised" Hope smiled, and Olivia put the necklace on "But she and I wanted you to have the necklace now"
"Mum" Olivia sighed, and she reached up to kiss her cheek. "I need something from you, although it seems like a stupid thing to ask for after this" Hope looked at her daughter with concern. "Oh, it's not bad! There is one Mikaelson thing I need that you didn't give me"
"What's that?" Hope asked, and Olivia smiled up at her, making her stomach flop and her knees weak. No other woman in the world could do that to her. Even Josie. Something about her little girl just made Hope turn to jelly.
"Your blessing" The blue white diamond on her left hand glinted in the sun, as Olivia raised her palm in the air. "You can say it, though. And you can just think it. I'll know"
Hope felt tears sting her eyes and she laid her right palm against her daughter's left, her mind going back to every sunny day, every rainy afternoon, every scraped knee and every triumphant moment Olivia had experienced since the day she was born.
She'd recited the blessing the first time she'd held her, the first day of school, the day she got her driver’s license and the day she'd left for college. She thought the words, because her throat had firmly closed, and the sweet spray of freckles across her fine nose made the tears in her eyes flow down her cheeks.
"From my arms, the world awaits.
I give you wings, I am your roots.
You are my greatest blessing, my dearest hope.
And with all that I am, I ask all the blessings Life offers
To be granted to you, today, every day."
Olivia looked up at Hope and smiled. "I love you, Mum"
"I love you, too, Livy. Now, go…get ready so we can get you married" Hope said, wiping her eyes and then her daughters. "I like Nick. He's a nice guy"
"Yeah" Olivia smiled. "I think I'll keep him around for awhile." She said, just as Josie appeared, a vision in deep blue.
"There you are. Olivia Hayley Mikaelson, do you even know what time it is?" She said, coming all the way out on to the balcony. "Your Aunt Lizzie just called. Guests are starting to arrive at the church"
"It's fine, Mommy" Olivia said casually. "Nick won't go anywhere. Not every male in the Pack is as fickle as Uncle Jed"
"He should" Josie said to her daughter, but not harshly. "It would serve you right" Josie smiled at Olivia. "Come on. Once you're ready, we can go"
"Go on, Livy. I'll be here when you're ready" Hope said, and Olivia nodded, dropping a kiss on her mothers cheek and going in.
"Everything okay?" Josie asked, and Hope nodded.
"Oh, yeah. Just saying goodbye" Hope smiled. "You look beautiful, Mrs. Mikaelson" She took Josie's hand. "Our bride is going to have some pretty stiff competition today"
Josie rolled her eyes. "Right. I'd better go back in. Your aunt Rebekah and Cleo can't get all those girls moving the way I can" She grinned, a devilish glint in her eye. "They all still think of me as their Girl Scout Leader"
"Go for it" Hope kissed her forehead. "I'll be ready in a minute"
Josie nodded. "Okay" She walked back to the door and smiled. "She's always going to be your girl, Hope. You know that, right?"
Hope smiled. "I hope so"
Later, after the ceremony, Hope sipped at the champagne she'd been handed and watched Olivia and Nick dance their first dance as husband and wife. They made a truly striking couple, both tall, blonde and gorgeous, and both deeply in love with the other. Hope thought back to the days when she and Josie had finally been in love at the same time, and how heady and perfect those days were. "I wish those never end for you, my darling" Hope thought, raising her glass toward her daughter. Olivia looked over Nick's shoulder and smiled at her, blowing a kiss. In this light, her hair glowed like firelight, and Hope adored her. The music ended, and Olivia glided over to her, taking the champagne glass from her and setting it on the table.
"Dance with me, Mum" Olivia said, towing Hope out to the dance floor. The song she'd chosen was a surprise, and Hope smiled. She had sung this to her and her brothers many times over the course of their young lives and today, it served to remind her how much she loved her.
….
The soft light played tricks on Hope's eyes, because Olivia suddenly seemed like a little girl, her brothers dancing with Josie and Rebekah seemed so young that Hope wanted to put them in their feetie pyjamas and send them to bed. She could see Mg and Lizzie watching, Lizzie wiping tears from her eyes, and Caroline, smiling with joy. Kol grinned at them from the bar, winking at Livy, and Nick’s family beamed with pride, watching their boy as Nick smiled at his beautiful bride.
She looked down at Olivia again, and she was all grown up, a beautiful live saving doctor in a big city hospital, dancing in a designer gown made just for her by her Auntie Lizzie. She smiled, and Hope pulled her close, swinging her around as the music seemed to sweep them along the dance floor on it's own. Time could get away from her, because Hope easily remembered this girl jumping from the porch railing at the house, wishing she could fly, gliding down the stairs at the Boarding School in her purposefully Royal blue prom gown, and her excitement the day she graduated from medical school. A lifetime in such a short amount of time, and still more to go. Hope thought of her parents, and how much Klaus and Hayley would have loved to see their granddaughter just the way she was right now.
"I love you, Mum" Olivia whispered into Hope's ear. "Always and Forever"
"I love you too. Always and Forever"
Hope could always fly out to New Orleans on Tuesdays for chili with the Kenner-Mikaelson family. What good were money if you couldn't use it for such things from time to time? The music ended, and Hope hugged Olivia, releasing her to Nick, who had come to claim his dance with his wife.
"Hey, Little Wolf" Josie's voice was beside her. "Your son left me flat. Let's go" She pointed to the dance floor.
"If you don't mind, Jo. I want to sit this one out" Hope gestured toward their daughter, laughing in the arms of her husband, "I just want to watch her"
Josie smiled, tears in her eyes. "You know what? Me too" She laughed, wiping her face. "Isn't it crazy?"
"I think it's the way things are supposed to be" Hope smiled and put her arm around her wife.
"Yeah" Josie smiled. 'The powerful Tribrid become a little Pup'. That's the headline for tomorrow" She teased, her smile just as full of snark and charm as ever. "World in Shock"
"Right" Hope laughed, and kissed her.
"Look at our girl" Josie said, and Hope turned, to see Olivia and Nick Kenner kiss, amidst the tinkling of glasses and cheers. It was indeed the way things were supposed to be, and for once, Hope Mikaelson let tears of happiness flow in public.