Everlasting- N.M {2}

29: the map of moments

The couple were in the car, speeding down a highway while Astrid bounced her leg up and down in her impatience.

Klaus grabbed her hand, intertwining his fingers with her own, squeezing it tightly to comfort her, trying to ease her nerves. She glanced at him with a slight frown. "You should have let me drive the car." She muttered, agitated.

Klaus chuckled at how restless Astrid had become in her impatience to see their daughter, changing his glances from her to the road in front of him. "Astrid, if you were driving the car, we would have been stopped, which can be avoided. You've waited this long, you can surely wait another few hours."

"And you have to bring up that point, why?" Astrid questioned, looking out of her window, not letting go of her husband's hand.

After what felt like another century to Astrid, Klaus stopped the car into the driveway of the safe house and Astrid pushed open the passenger door just as Klaus stopped the car. She swiftly jumped out of her seat in the moment that she had removed her seatbelt. "Astrid!" Klaus called after her, but she paid no mind to him when she was so close to her daughter.

Rebekah, Erik and Elijah moved from their places from the porch, walking towards the lawn directly in front of the house, and Astrid slowly moved towards them, not quite believing that this was real. Her own heart was beating in her ears and as her hands clenched into fists, they became sweaty, her nerves still at an all-time high. She stood a short distance in front of Elijah, who was holding Hope, knowing she wasn't exactly trusting of Erik as of right now.

There were tears building up in Astrid's dark eyes, and when he took notice of her silent reaction to her daughter, Elijah smiled at her, encouraging her, silently telling her that this was real life, and she was with her daughter after many months apart. Rebekah also nodded at her sister-in-law, reassuring her that everything was fine, and Elijah passed Hope over to her mother.

Astrid held Hope close to her, still trapped in her own disbelief as she let a deep breath escape, feeling now somewhat at peace after the recent stressful events. As she briefly shut her eyes, a tear involuntarily made its way from either of her eyes. "Hi, baby. Mama's here."

Slightly behind her, Klaus was also close to tears and too stunned to move. Astrid turned, walking toward her husband with a joyful grin. "There's Daddy."

Astrid passed Hope over to Klaus when he held his hands out to hold his daughter in his own arms. Hope made a sound of cute laughter, and her parents both laughed as Klaus softly kissed her on the forehead.

The present Mikaelsons all stood in the yard of the safe house as they all were conversing about the latest news that had been brought to their attention while some of them were preparing the bonfire. Astrid was holding Hope, swaying her side to side.

"So, you were told about a curse on the first-born?" Erik questioned, his expression concerned.

Astrid tilted her head to the side. "We were told of one. The description was quite vague, but that was to be expected, considering who we heard it all from."

"Curse on the first-born? What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Rebekah questioned in bewilderment as she took a large branch from her husband, placing it in the bonfire.

"Well, according to Finn, our sister Freya didn't die of plague. She was taken as payment by our aunt Dahlia, who then cursed all Mikaelson first-borns for eternity." Klaus told them as he paced the grass by the bonfire.

"Is any of this true?" Rebekah asked, looking at both Astrid & Klaus with her eyebrows now knitted together.

Elijah rolled up the sleeves of his shirt after he had carefully undone the buttons. "It is if we are to believe Finn, who learned it from the bastion of truth; our mother."