𝒀𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓♡︎ //𝐊𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧

17| 𝑵𝒐 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑼𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒘

Kaitlyn's POV

By the time we got home, it was already 10PM, meaning the kids should be done with the party decor by now.

As soon as I get out of Nik's car, I see the kids rush towards me.

"Hey there, Power Rangers," I greet them. 'Power Rangers' is a name I gave their group when they were all kids and dressed up as the Power Rangers for one Halloween. The nickname just stuck around since then.

"Mom, there you are! What took you so long?" Lizzie complains, "for a second, we thought you'd end up missing midnight."

"You thought that, Liz. We had faith in Miss K," Landon speaks up as the others laugh and Lizzie glares at him.

"It was my fault, I took her out for dinner and it got late," Nik says and it seems like the kids just realized he was here too.

"Oh okay," is all Lizzie says and I raise my brow at her.

"Okay? That's it?" I ask and she nods.

"It's alright, mom. You're here now," Josie says.

"Plus we can't complain if you were out on a date anyways," Hope chimes in as the other kids grin and I blush.

"It wasn't a date, it was just dinner," I correct her.

"Yes, the date is tomorrow. Today was just dinner," Nik chimes in and as the kids 'aww', I nudge him with my elbow to shut him up.

I don't think I'm still used to the kids knowing I'm seeing someone, and that too Nik, of all people. The kids, however, seem more okay with this than anyone else. I know Ryan isn't exactly fond of Nik but he's been trying to get along with him as well. The twins really do like Nik, specially Lizzie.

"Okay okay, let's head inside now," I say as I usher them inside the house.

"You wanna come in?" I ask as I turn to look back at Nik.

He hesitates a little and I think the kids notice it too because Josie speaks up, "yeah come on in, it's your daughter's birthday too. You should get to celebrate here," she says and the others nod. Nik gives her a grateful smile and steps into the house as well.

"Hey Bee, you're back! The kids were totally freaking out-" Alaric trails off as we walk into the kitchen and his eyes land on Nik.

"Yeah sorry. Where's Care?" I ask.

"She's still out and about. Said she'll be back before midnight," he replies.

"Alright, you guys chat. I need to go freshen up," I say as I walk out of the kitchen and upstairs to my room.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

00:00

2nd May, 2028

Midnight struck and the Lockwood Mansion was struck with celebrations. There was a homemade cake, a bunch of balloons, whole lot of gifts and multiple calls from friends and family who couldn't be there to celebrate in real.

"Okay okay, time to open the gifts!" Lizzie cheers along with the other kids.

Ryan, Landon and MG then bring out a stack on gift boxes attached to a bunch of big balloons.

"These are from Uncle Damon and Aunt Lena, Uncle Kol and Aunt Dav, Aunt Bekah and Marcel. Also something from Uncle Elijah for you, mom," Lizzie points to the different gifts.

"These have been showing up for the past three days and we've been hiding them in the attic so you or Hope wouldn't find them," Josie elaborates.

I open Elijah's gift first. It's a vintage copy of 'Pride and Prejudice'.