Rue | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 19

Ibeth was paranoid.

No matter how happy she felt in the Bayou, she had stopped feeling safe. There was a horrible pit in her stomach warning her that Aurora was coming. It wouldn't be long before she found herself captured, or worse.

She hadn't realized how much she could miss the city. A few more days and she started itching to stop seeing the same trees. She wished she could take a walk and go to Rousseau's, or skip down the other way and end up in a nice outdoor market where she'd get herself a cute pair of earrings or maybe a hot dog.

Vincent and Cami came to visit with Hayley, but they could never stay too late. And it didn't feel the same, because she knew they were obviously not as comfortable sitting on a log outside.

Though, that didn't deter them from planning to come by as often as they could for the duration of Ibeth's pregnancy. Cami was thrilled for her, and was looking forward to being a sweet aunt for her baby. Vincent was happy for her, of course, but he knew that she wasn't excited enough for him to be making it widely known. She knew it was probably bringing up many memories of his own unborn child that had been lost.

Freya had come to place a series of protective spells over her, shielding her belly as much as she could from any potential harm. Ibeth had felt quite exposed, laying outside shirtless while Freya smeared all sorts of mashed herbs on her tummy. But it certainly did calm her down a bit knowing that at least something was in place to give her baby a chance even if she was gravely injured.

Lucien was texting her every day, making sure she was doing well. He often invited her to his penthouse, offering to pick her up if she wanted to spend a day in the city or do any grocery shopping. She politely declined, letting him know she felt better staying in the Bayou and not leaving at all. In reality she knew that the more time she spent with him, the closer she'd come to wanting to break her vows. Already the awareness of the pregnancy made her sense the surge in hormones, and all of them were pointing her in his direction, encouraging her to have some fun before her belly got too big for her to enjoy anything.

Sometimes she almost allowed herself to think of him in an inappropriate context, when she was laying alone in her room and no one was watching her. But as soon as she caught herself zoning out and imagining his lips pressed against hers, she put a stop to it by going out to talk to her wolves.

The children were overjoyed with the news of her pregnancy. Henry, Angel, and the twins were constantly touching her belly even if there was no bump at all yet. Luna and Nick were constantly by her side asking how she felt and offering to do her chores for her. She reminded them that she was the Alpha, not a porcelain doll.

"I knowwww," said Luna, hanging themselves upside down from a low tree branch. "But the other wolves say you're in 'delicate condition.'"

"Well, they say that," said Ibeth, tickling their tummy and making them giggle, "but it doesn't mean I'll break if I sweep the floors. I like cleaning my own space, it makes me happy. If you and Nick want to help me, you just have to spend time with me."

Luna used all their strength to sit back up, reaching out touch Ibeth's hair. "If you have a little girl, you have to learn how to braid better."

"Excuse you," said Ibeth, feigning offense. "Were you not the one who said I was good at braiding?"

"Not as good as me!"

"Then maybe if I have a daughter, you will need to braid her hair."

"Well, that's obviously what I'm going to do, but you have to learn to do it for when I go to beauty and film school. That's only... seven years from now!"