Loving Hope (Third book to The Little Wolf series)

Chapter 42

Penelope's P.O.V.
"It seems like a tradition in our family to attend funerals that are held for my brother's victims." Elijah says to me quietly as we walk along the path of the cemetery. We are going to watch Doug's casket be lowered, which is absolutely terrible.

"This is my first one surprisingly. But I'm sure over the centuries you've had to attend many." I say as we hang back a little behind the crowd to talk more privately.

"How are the children? With everything going on, how are they taking their various losses?" Elijah asks me curiously.

"Well, Nik has been silent for a while. He's really taking Klaus's absence hard, and him seeing Faith so distraught is really getting to him. Faith's a mess, she misses Klaus and she's grieving Doug... It's way too much for her." I say as I let out a deep exhale. "And then Hope, she's trying to act unaffected but deep down she's hurting. She carries this heavy guilt, Elijah. I mean, I thought Klaus being away for a while would be a good thing. I thought it would give me a chance to regroup the family, but the children are resilient... There is no way that they are going to recover from all of this quickly." I explain, extremely pained to see my family in shambles.

"Are you getting over this quickly, Penelope?" Elijah asks me curiously. I look at him as tears come to my eyes.

"No. No I'm not." I answer him as I wipe my eyes quickly and shake my head.

"Then you cannot expect them to get over it quickly either. They are yours and Niklaus's creations, they're made in your image. And it is no secret that all three of them are resilient like Klaus and yourself." Elijah tells me as we walk along the graveled path.

"You're right. I can't expect that from them. Considering that Klaus and I are the ones that put them through this." I say guiltily as I keep having to wipe tears from my eyes. Elijah and I are silent for a moment.

"Does Hope know the truth about Douglas's death?" Elijah asks me curiously. I look at him and let out another deep exhale.

"Yeah she does." I answer honestly. "She walked into my room yesterday, and she looked me straight in the eyes and asked 'Dad killed Doug, didn't he?'" I say, recalling what Hope asked me yesterday. Elijah just looks at me with sympathetic eyes. "One of the worst things in the world, is having to tell your daughter that he father is a killer." I say I try hard to contain my sobs. Elijah just looks at me with pity, but he grabs my hand and gives it a little squeeze of reassurance.

"I promised you that I'd always be here for you and your children, Penelope. I intend to keep that promise." Elijah reassures me as he looks at me with his soft brown eyes. His look causes a small smile to creep onto my lips.

"Thank you, Elijah." I say to him sincerely as we continue to walk together along the gravel path. One of the greatest things about being a Mikaelson, is that there are so many of us, and that assures the fact that I'm never truly alone.

----------------------

Hope's P.O.V.
The funeral disbands after Doug's casket is lowered into the ground. The air in the cemetery is heavy with grief and all of this just doesn't even feel real. Life seems to be going by in slow motion, and even though it's going slow, it's almost like I can't grasp any of it. It's almost like I'm not even existing.

Faith is talking with Doug's family as NJ just walks around the cemetery aimlessly while my mom and Uncle Elijah talk from across the cemetery, looking secretively about the words they speak. I turn around to walk down the path but in the path stands Kai, making my heart stop in my chest. I look at him with my red puffy eyes as he just looks down at me with his beautiful blue eyes.