Book Three: Ineffable (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Seventeen

Diana pulls a grey baby blanket out of a delivery box and smiles at it. She's not really going for the whole pink and blue thing, they have the bears which are fine, but everything else is going to be gender-neutral. And when the twins are older, they can pick their favorite colors. She pulls her phone from her pocket as it rings. She glances at the caller id and sighs a little.

"Damon" She greets as she picks it up.

"Hey, Watchdog" He counters. "You and Ric still mad at me?"

"Depends" She answers. "You still a dick?" He laughs a little and then sobers. "What's up?" she asks as she sets the blanket into one of the cribs set up in the nursery.

"So...You might not want to come to the boarding house for a while." Damon answers.

"Hmm?" Diana asks.

"We have a new housemate. Barbie Klaus." Damon admits.

"Rebekah? She's living with you now? Why?" She counters.

"She's stranded. Apparently, Klaus left her in the dust after I name-dropped Mikael."

"Mikael?" Diana asks.

"Daddy Original" He answers. "Elena...didn't tell you?"

"Heard the name in her head but...." She shrugs a little.

"Thought you knew about the legends around the Originals" He points out.

"Well, yeah, I do...and yeah, everyone comes from somewhere" She admits as she moves to the second delivery parcel on the dresser. "Knew there was a father, but names weren't recorded, Damon, the information Athena and Artemis have on the Originals...I mean...we have learned more in the last few months then they have collected in the last 1,000 years" She explains. "I should be writing all this down" She adds. "What about Stefan?" She asks him. "How's he...coping?"

"Not great" He admits. "He's full-on....you know...Evil!Diana" he teases.

"Damon" She scolds. "I warned you...about having to kill Stefan..."

"I know, Watchdog. Give me some time before you go all Xena on his ass, okay?" She hums a little. "How're the future hunters doing? You all good?"

"Yeah" She assures him. "We're fine..." She touches her bump.

............

At the high school, Elena runs into Stefan who catches her before she falls.

"Hello, Elena." He greets her.

"What are you doing here?" She counters.

"What do you mean? I'm going back to school. Go Timberwolves!" Stefan tells her with a smile.

"What? Why?"

"Klaus wants me to keep an eye on you. I'm just doing what I'm told.

"I'm going to be late for class." She tries to leave but he grabs her by the arm and stops her.

"Oh, class is this way."

"Let go of me, Stefan." Elena scolds him.

"Elena, do you think I want to be a senior for the 100th time? No. But if I don't have a choice in the matter, then neither do you."

"I said let go of me." Alaric walks up behind Elena.

"Let her go." He warns, Stefan pushes him against the locker.

"Stefan, stop it!"

"You're not gonna want to get in my way. Okay, Ric? I will see you both in history." Stefan walks away from them both.

...........

Before history class, Alaric and Elena are alone in his classroom.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Alaric asks her.

"Klaus compelled him to watch over me. Apparently, I'm one of Klaus's assets now that my blood is the only way to create a hybrid."

"Now he's a bodyguard?"

"I don't know what he is. But he's definitely not Stefan." The school bell rings and some students enter. Elena lowers her voice. "Look, his being here is not good for any of us" That Alaric can agree on, with how unhinged Stefan is, it puts Diana and the babies at risk. "We have to do something." The students enter the classroom. Elena goes to her chair. Caroline sits next to her and a guy sits on the other side but Stefan enters and goes toward him.]

"You're in my seat." The student flees and Stefan smiles at Elena and sits next to her. Caroline looks at him.

"Hey, you!" Stefan greets Elena, Elena shoots him a look back as Alaric write 'AP American History' on the blackboard in chalk.

"Welcome back, seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders...the Native Americans." Rebekah enters the classroom.

"What about the Vikings?" She takes a seat at a desk. Tyler, Caroline, and Elena look at her.

"There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States" Alaric counters. "Who are you?" He asks.

"My name's Rebekah. I'm new. And history's my favorite subject." Rebekah tells the class. 

............

Diana glances to Caroline who bounces over to her couch and drops down next to Diana and sets a flyer on the coffee table, Diana glances at it. 'Spirit Squad Back-to-school Bonfire'

"I forgot about the bonfire," Diana admits as she sets her knitting down in her lap.

"You have to go," Caroline begs of her. "It's our first spirit squad event. And it sets the bar for the whole year." She adds and turns to Diana. "Got to get that spirit in there" She teases as she points at Diana's bump. "Because you and Ric....surprisingly lacking in school spirit"

"We have school spirit" Diana scolds.

"You dropped out of high school" Caroline reminds her. "And Ric impregnated his student" Diana opens her mouth to argue but honestly how can she argue with that.

"Okay," Diana offers. "I'll be there..."

"So fun stuff out of the way" Caroline then turns serious. "We need to talk about Tyler and Stefan" Diana sighs and nods.

"Yeah, figured...I've been trying to figure out how to tell Derek what happened with Tyler" Caroline nods a little. "This whole...hybrid aspect..." Diana lets out a breath. "I really do need to start writing this shit down" She scolds herself.