Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

You Make Me Feel Safe Enough to Try

"They cannot wait to see you."

Caroline, who was still turning a corner with a wave to Alaric, caught up with her quickly. "Well, I really, really need to see them. Stefan told me that he needed to go on some spirit walk to God knows where, figure out if he wants to be with me."

"He probably thinks he's protecting you," she said. "There's nothing anyone can say to him that will change his mind, he has to do that himself."

Caroline pulled her to a stop. "Abigail, I-I'm sorry. I didn't even think-"

"No, don't do that." She took her hand. "Just come hang out with me and the girls and know that whatever he's doing out there will bring him back to you."

The door to Lizzie and Josie's room was decorated with drawings they taped up themselves, so they were all on the lower half of the door. Abigail had pointed them out to Caroline as she pushed it open, her eyes lingering on them with a smile. But when she looked up to see the boxes which had been stored on the top shelf of their closet open and on the floor, that smile was wiped away.

The twins were standing in front of their mirror with their flower girl dresses on over their clothes, the brunette saying, "I love this dress."

The blonde agreed, "We look so pretty."

"How did you..." She didn't finish the question as she gently pulled the dresses over their heads because she knew the answer. "These dresses are not play clothes."

"We're not playing, Mommy," Josie said, "we're practicing."

Lizzie looked up at Caroline. "For your wedding!"

Caroline joined Abigail on the floor. "I know you girls are excited about the wedding, and wearing these dresses, and all of it, but it might not happen as soon as I promised."

Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest. "Why?"

"Well..." Caroline glanced at Abigail, a nod telling her to speak from the heart, "People who love each other don't always get married. It doesn't mean they don't love each other; it just doesn't always work out that way."

It was Lizzie to furrow her eyebrows, Josie to whimper, and then both of them to cry. Abigail rubbed their arms, a soft notion of comfort to accompany a phrase of the same kind. It brought them back to smiles, but not before a box was set ablaze.

Caroline acted quickly, throwing a blanket over the flames to extinguish them as Abigail pushed Lizzie and Josie back to safety.

"Girls, please! Please..." Abigail brought her voice down, frustrated that she ever raised it. "What have Daddy and I been telling you? You need to be careful."

In the hallway, Caroline asked, "You've had all of this going on and you didn't tell me?"

Abigail continued her path to her and Alaric's bedroom where she planned on hanging the flower girl dresses until the wedding. "You've had your own stuff to deal with. I-"

"Stuff you've been helping me with." Caroline sped around her, stopping so that she had no choice but to stay where she stood. "Why didn't you-"

"Caroline, the reason I didn't tell you about this is because you know as well as I do, as well as Alaric does, that if Jo were here, she would know what to do..." She held her eye contact, opening up the silent part of the conversation that she would have blocked before. "I almost lost all of this, but she really did. So, the fact that I have no idea how to help them is not only making me feel like I'm letting them down, it's making me feel like I am letting her down."

"You've been putting them first since you found out Jo was pregnant. There's no way that you are letting anyone down."

Abigail walked down the Armory's grand staircase, announcing to Alaric, "Caroline is going to keep playing with the girls until bedtime. I told them no siphoning, but, you know, clearly they have no control over what they are doing."