March 6, 2028
Ryan's POV

Mom and Ric stayed back at school for a teacher's meeting while I drove the twins home after school.
Now we're all scrammed across the kitchen. It's Josie's turn to cook tonight and she's making me and Lizzie help her with it.

The entire day, I couldn't get the Mikaelsons out of my head. They're back in town and from the looks of it, mom and Ric have known for a while. Why didn't they tell us?
And Hope is a Mikaelson? Does she know her dad's history with mom? Didi she know who we were when we met at the Grill?
I wonder the twins know the full story or even any of it. Mom never talks about them, even when Lizzie and Josie would ask her questions about Uncle Kol's family and what not. She barely talks about them and even when she does, its precise and non-informative. I, however, know the entire story because Ric and Uncle Damon thought I was old enough to join them on their adventure trips and on one such trip, they started talking about the Klaus Mikaelson, his family and how they had hurt mom in the worst way possible back when she needed them the most.

"Earth to Ryan!" Josie yells, to get my attention.
I shake the thoughts out of my head and turn to her, "yeah sorry, I phased out. What were you saying?" I ask.
"I was telling you that Josie's performance is at 6 so don't miss it!" Lizzie answers.
"Yeah don't worry I won't miss it."

Just then, we hear the main door open. Guess mom and Ric are finally home. They walk into the kitchen and mom sits down on a stool on the opposite side of the counter, greeting the twins. She doesn't even spare me a second glance. Great, she's mad!
I look at Ric for her but he just gives me a sympathetic smile.

"Okay mom, enough with the silent treatment!" I interrupt Lizzie, who was rambling on about the shows decorations.
Mom turns to look at me but doesn't say anything.
"I'm sorry for the way I behaved today, okay? I mean, yeah they deserved it. You can't deny that but I know you didn't raise us to be rude and
I am sorry for not listening to you," I apologize.

"Ooo, did Ryan mess up this time?" Lizzie chimes in with a teasing tone while Josie glares at her.
I ignore her remark and wait for mom to say something.
"Okay," is all she says.
"Okay? That's all you're going to say? No screaming or grounding?" I ask her, surprised.
"You're 17, Ryan. I can't ground you anymore. And you're 17, you should know better than lash out on someone the way you did when you had to right to. But I can't change what has already happened. So I'll wait for you to learn from your mistakes," she replies nonchalantly.

"I had no right to? How could you say that? They're the Mikaelsons, mom! We all know what they did to you and you're telling me I had no right to hate them?" I exclaim.
The twins wear a shocked look on their faces, especially Lizzie. Mom looks frustrated while Ric just stands and watches the scene unfold.

"The Mikaelsons? As in Hope's family? Mom, you knew them from beforehand? Why didn't you tell us that? And what does Ryan mean by 'what they did to you'?" Lizzie throws in one question after the other.
"Lizzie maybe this isn't the right time to talk about this," Josie tries to stop her but mom speaks up just then.

"Look. I don't know how you kids know so much about this situation, although my money is on Damon. But I want you to remember something very clearly because I'll only say it once: you do not have to fight my battles for me! I get it, you're protective over your mom and I'm lucky to have such amazing kids as you three but you can't go around carrying my hate. In fact, no I don't hate them. Whatever happened is in the past, my past, not yours. How I behave with them is my choice and rest assured, I know how I will handle these situations by myself. You don't have to hate them and you shouldn't, especially not Hope. She's innocent in this and doesn't deserve to get caught up in the middle. None of you kids do. So I expect you all to be civil towards them and let me handle the rest. Is that clear?" mom asks in a stern manner.

Josie immediately nods and follow along, reluctantly while Lizzie wears a confused look of on her face.
Mom then walks out of the kitchen and Lizzie speaks up, "okay what the hell is going on? How do Ryan and Josie know something I don't? this isn't fair! Dad, tell us what they did!" Lizzie complains.

"Honestly, I don't think I should. I understand Ryan's case but Josie, how do you know about the Mikaelsons?" Ric questions.
Josie looks down at the question, "um I...I read about them in mom's journals as well as Uncle Stefan's," she admits guiltily.
"That wasn't right of you, sweetheart. You know if your mom wanted you guys to know about this, she would've told you by herself. You don't need to go snooping around and invading her privacy to do so," Ric reprimands.
Tears pool in Josie's eyes as she apologizes.
"Apologize to your mom, she's the one you guys hurt," Ric says as he walks out of the room as well.

"Okay enough! We can all go apologize but at least tell me about the crime first! Ryan, Josie, tell me what they did to mom!" Lizzie demands.
Josie and I exchange a knowing look and I let out a sigh before looking back at Lizzie.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
Kaitlyn's POV

Today has been a long, frustrating day. All I want to do now is get into bed and get some rest before the cycle continues into tomorrow. As I get out of the shower and change into my PJs, there is a knock on the door and Lizzie's chocked up voice follow, "mom, can I come in?"
I get up and open the door for her. Lizzie wastes no time and pulls me into a tight hug as she cries on my shoulder while whispering a series of 'I'm sorry'.

"Shh, it's okay it's okay. We're all fine," I whisper back and when she finally backs away from the hug, she holds onto my hands for dear life.
"What happened, sweety?" I ask her in a soothing voice.
"I...I got Ryan and Josie to tell me about the Mikaelsons," she answers and I let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry for all you had to go through, mom and I'm sorry I asked them about the Mikaelsons even when you didn't want us to know about it," she continues.

"No it's okay. It's not that I didn't want you to know. I just thought you didn't need to. Whatever happened is in the past and yeah it hurt back then but those events lead to some of the best things in my life. Meeting Chris and Ryan, having you and Josie, opening the School with Ric, having a family of my own and what not. These are all blessings that made their way into my life after those events and in the end, I'm thankful for how things turned out," I answer.
Lizzie slowly nods with a small smile on her face. I wipe a few stray tears away from her face, "now we should all get some sleep," I tell her.
"Can I stay here with you, please?" she asks.
I nod, "yeah sure thing, sweety," I reply as we both lie down and gradually drift off to sleep.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
It's 11:30 in the morning when the sun blares into my room, waking me up. 11:30? Did I miss my alarm? I groggily wake up and stretch my arms when I realize Lizzie is no longer here. She must've gotten up before me. Why didn't she wake me? As I look for my phone, I notice a note on my nightstand.

"We left for school. Dad said you deserved a day off so I turned off your alarm and didn't wake you. See you at school for the show. Love you, mom!
-Lizzie"

I smile at the note and then quickly hop into the shower to head to school. There's no way I can take today off. With the talent show and the Mikaelsons visiting, it's best I get there as early as possible. I get out of shower and change into a blue dress that Caroline got me for my last birthday. I then head towards the Grill to get some breakfast since I don't feel like making anything right now.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
When I get to the Grill, it's already past 12. I get myself a booth and place my usual order with a coffee to go. Just as the waitress brings me my food, I see the door to the Grill open and Hayley, Freya and Davina walk in. Davina meets my eyes and gives me a small smile, which I return. I see them sit on a booth on the other side of the Grill and place their own orders when I turn back to my own food.

When I'm done with my breakfast, I pay for the meal and as I'm about to walk out of the Grill, I hear someone call out my name. I turn around to see it's Hayley.
"Oh hi," I greet her and she smiles at me.
"I'm sorry for stopping you, I just... I just wanted to thank you for yesterday. For accepting Hope into your school and giving her a chance at a normal life. I don't think I've ever seen her this excited," Hayley explains.
I smile back at her, "I had no reason not to. Hope seems like a great kid. We're glad to have her," I reply.

Hayley nods in acknowledgement, "and also, I know it probably doesn't matter anymore but for what it's worth, I am sorry for my role in your life in the past," Hayley apologizes guiltily.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, really. You didn't owe me anything so I have no reason to hate you. Besides, it's all in the past. I think it's best if we move on from that," I answer her.
Hayley nods again, "yeah but still, thank you for everything," she says.
"Well, you're welcome. I guess I'll see at the show later," I tell her as I turn and walk towards my car.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
It's around 5PM when I'm finally done with cross-checking everything for the show and decide to rest my feet a little before the show starts.
I take off my heels and sit down on the couch, leaning my head back and closing my eyes for a bit when I hear a knock on my office door.
"Come on in," I say.
The door slowly opens and I see Kol peak his head through the door. That's when I remember the Mikaelsons were supposed to get here early and finalize Hope's admission.
I slowly start to get up, "oh sorry, I totally forgot about the meeting," I say but Kol waves it off as he plops down on the couch next to me.
"It's alright, doll reax. It's just me. I wanted to come see how you're doing before everyone else got here," Kol replies.
I give him a grateful smile, "I'm doing great. It's just, being a headmistress is a lot of work and I just needed to rest my feet a little, nothing else."
Kol nods, "yeah and what about everything else?"
"Everything else is great too," I answer as I close my eyes and rest my head on his shoulder.
He puts his arms around me and slowly runs his hands through my hair is a soothing manner.
"You know, Davina loved you yesterday," Kol speaks up after a while.
"Yeah? Well, I loved her too. Maybe we can hang out sometime this week, if you guys want to," I offer.
"I'm sure she'll want to. I'll ask her when we get home today," he replies.

I then get up and go sit on my office chair, to sort through some files and Kol looks around my office.
He points towards a frame behind my office chair, with pictures of all my friends and family, "good to see my mortal self made a feature on your office wall."

I turn my chair around to look at it, "yeah well when I put it up, that's what you looked like so you can't really blame me," I shrug.
"No but since then, we've met countless times and you could've easily gotten this upgraded, you know," he complains.
"Hey, at least you got a feature. Maybe you'll learn to appreciate it if I take down the picture altogether," I tease him.
Kol lets out a fake gasp, "you wouldn't dare."
I lean against my table and say, "try me," with a smirk.
"Oh yeah?" he narrows his eyes at me, mockingly.

Before I know it, Kol starts tickling me and I start laughing loudly.
"Take it back!" Kol demands.
"No I won't," I say in between my laughs.
"You better take it back while you still can, sunshine," he warns.
We were so lost in joking with each other, we didn't even realize my office door was opened by someone until they clear their throat, making their presence known.
We both immediately look up to see it's Alaric standing on the doorway with the Mikaelsons behind him.
Davina, Freya, Rebekah, Marcel and Hayley wear an amused look while Klaus wears an irritated one. Then I notice Elijah and Hope aren't here. Wonder where they went off to.

I quickly sit up straighter on my chair as Kol stands behind it, with a smirk playing on his face.
"Oh sorry, we didn't notice you, Ric," I address him.
Alaric shakes his head, "no worries. The Mikaelsons are here for the meeting if you want to continue with it now," he tells me.
"Yeah sure."
Then they all walk in and disperse around the room. Klaus and Hayley sit on the chairs opposite my table while the others take the couch or stand beside the shelves.

"Hope's not here?" I ask.
"Yeah she was here with us but Lizzie dragged her away to the show rehearsals," Davina answers.
I nod with smile hearing that. Good thing Lizzie is being friendly and welcoming towards Hope.
"Okay then, I believe you have already filled in the papers?" I question, skimming through the files that Alaric just handed me.
Hayley nods.
"Alright, I guess that's it. Because of Hope belonging to all three primary species we separate classes around, she'll need a revised routine where we equally divide the special classes along with the general ones. I'll get a supervisor to take a look at it. Hope might need to work on getting some extra credits so the teachers can evaluate her accordingly as well," I tell them.
"What kind of extra credits?" Hayley asks.
"Well it ranges to all sorts of activities. Tutoring another student, helping the librarian with sorting the books, other extracurricular activities and even helping with the dormitory/ kitchen cleaning. Don't worry, we let the students pick what kind of credits they want to pick so Alaric can discuss it with her when she comes to school for her first day. I think that's it. If there's any more queries, you can always reach out to our office numbers or send us an email about it," I tell them.

I then check my phone to see it's time for the show to start so I get up from my chair and head towards the door, "the show starts soon so we should get to the auditorium and find seats for ourselves," I tell them as they follow behind me.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆
3rd person POV

As everyone heads towards the auditorium, Klaus' thoughts trail off to what they had walked in on, at Kaitlyn's office. Yes, Kol was Kaitlyn's best friend but that didn't make it any better. He, just like everyone else, had noticed how quickly her demeanor had changed when she noticed them. One second she was cheery and laughing her heart out and the next second, she is collected and guarded off. The only difference between those two moments was the simple presence of them. The presence of him.

Klaus thinks of how Kol was such a huge part of Kaitlyn's life. How he knew every detail about her life. How she trusted him with information about herself and her family. Klaus thinks of how once it used to be him she would tell every detail of her to. Now, it's Alaric who she lives with, raises her kids with. Now it's Kol who is her go-to person, her confidant. It aches Klaus' heart to think of how he had been replaced from her life's every aspect while in his life, there has been a her-shaped hole in his heart for the past sixteen years.

Klaus gets snapped out of his thoughts as the auditorium hall fills with cheers, indicating an act had just ended. The host comes up on stage and announces the next act- Josette Saltzman. Kaitlyn's daughter was up next.

Alaric puts his arms around Kaitlyn and she rests her head on his shoulder as Lizzie and Ryan join them, all looking at Josie who walks on stage and sits on the stage, setting up her piano.
All but one. Klaus' attention remains on Alaric's arms around his Rose and on how comfortable and content she looked around him.
Yeah, their relationship might be completely platonic but Alaric was still living the life Klaus had always wanted to have with his Kaitlyn. And every time Klaus saw her, he was reminded of how he let her go and how she had moved on.

Josie clears her throat and leans into the mic, "hello everyone, I am Josie Saltzman. I'm joining to be singing a song and I'll be dedicating it to my mother," she says as she looks down to where her family stands, with a proud look on all their faces.
"My mother has been my No.1 supporter since day one. She has taught me everything that I know, she has taught me how to be myself and she has taught me how to compassionate, kind and forgiving. I can't ever be thankful enough for everything she does for all of us so today, mom I want you to know I love you and my biggest achievement is to be able to call myself your daughter. Every day with you is the best day of my life," Josie ends her speech, slowly breathing in and out before she starts playing a tune of her piano.

"I'm five years old
It's getting cold
I've got my big coat on
I hear your laugh
And look up smiling at you
I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch
And the tractor rides
Look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs
And fall asleep on the way home

Josie continues to sing "The Best Day" by Taylor Swift, all while looking at her mother who looks back at her with tears in her own eyes and a proud, grateful expression on her face. Alaric runs his hands around Kaitlyn's arms in a soothing manner while Lizzie and Ryan side-hug each other. Behind the family, the Mikaelsons stand in awe. Kol too wears a proud expression while all the others look at the stage with smiles on their faces. Soon, Hope and Elijah join them and Hope gives her mom a hug as well.

"And now I know why the all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side
Even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
Staying back and watching me shine and
I didn't know if you knew
So I'm taking this chance to say
That I had the best day with you today"

Josie finishes her performance and the auditorium bursts into cheers. Alaric blows out a loud whistle, being the embarrassing dad he is while Kaitlyn wipes away some stray tears. Before getting off stage, Josie looks back at her mom and gets a smile in return.

Josie then rushes down the stage and pulls her mom into a tight hug as the rest of her family join into one big family-hug.

Behind them, the Mikaelsons watch with big smiles on their faces.

As they break apart from the hug, Kol speaks up, "Good job, kiddo. That was a great performance!" he compliments Josie.

Josie looks back at him with an appreciative smile, "Thanks, Uncle Kol. I'm glad you liked it."

"We all loved it," Davina chimes in as the others nod.

"See? I told you mom would love it," Lizzie nudges Josie.

"Yeah, I told you you were being nervous for no reason," Ryan comments.

"Thanks everyone. It really means a lot," Josie replies.

"Okay, now that we're done with all the emotional stuff, can we please go get some food? I'm starving," Lizzie complains.

Kaitlyn lets out a chuckle, "you kids go ahead, one of us needs to stay until this is over," she tells Alaric.

"Well then I'll stay, you take the kids home. You've been working too much anyways. Go get some rest," Alaric tells her.

"You sure? I'm not making dinner if that's why you're trying to send me home early," Kaitlyn jokes.

"No it's okay. Ryan can go get food from the Grill. You just get home and rest this once," Alaric reassures her as Ryan nods at his suggestion.

Kaitlyn finally gives in and heads home with the kids. When they reach Kaitlyn's car, Josie stops and turns to Hope, "hey Hope, you wanna come along and hang out at our place?" she asks.

Hope's face instantly brightens up. Lizzie gives her mother a questioning look but only gets a bright smile in reply. Kaitlyn looks at Josie, glad to see her too being welcoming and friendly towards Hope. It might take more time for Ryan to warm up to Hope and the others but at least the twins were putting in effort.

Hope looks at her parents, silently asking for permission. Hayley gives her and encouraging nod as a wide smile spreads across her face.

Hope squeals in happiness and hugs both her parents before she turns towards the twins.

"Yee thank you for the invite!" Hope exclaims, turning towards Josie and then looking at Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn nods in acknowledgment, "okay then, get in, everyone," she tells the girls.

"Mom, can I drive?" Lizzie asks her with puppy eyes.

Kaitlyn rolls her eyes at Lizzie, "sure but I'm sitting shotgun then," she approves.

The girls let out a squeal as they rush to get into the car and the others laugh at their antics.

"O children, careful, I don't want a single scratch on my car!" Kaitlyn warns, half-serious.

She then gives the Mikaelsons one last look before getting in the car, as well. Klaus gives her an appreciative smile, which to his surprise, she returns.

Klaus feels his heart fill with joy at the sight of her smile and the fact that her daughter was making friends, let alone with his love's daughters, of all people. With that thought, he too gets into his car and drives off to their mansions, with his family.