Klaus let Finn go.

He could have kept him captive. He could have forced Esther to find him herself. Free him if she wanted him back so badly.

But he'd seen the way Maddy reacted when he told her that Finn was chained up in an underground tunnel near the cemetery. She looked sad to hear it. And so, Klaus realized that maybe, letting Finn go was better. He had to bide his time. He couldn't hurt Esther just yet. Keeping Finn hostage might make her do something truly psychotic. And the last thing Klaus needed was for Esther to go after Maddy when she was just getting so excited about the prospect of her mother coming back.

It had been a week since she found out, and all she could talk about were all the things she'd show her mother from the modern world when she saw her again. She talked about how they'd curl their hair and go to a party, how they'd put on dresses and then take pictures before going shopping.

Klaus didn't want to burst her bubble. Neither did Damon. But for once, the two were in agreement.

They didn't think this was going to go down well.

"It's been too calm," said Klaus, on the day that the small group was going to go into the prison world to fetch Lily. "Esther has not contacted us. Mikael is still asleep. Finn has not shown his face. And Elijah even claims all is going well for him on his 'vacation.' Something will go wrong. I am sure of it."

"Stop worrying," said Maddy, cuddling closer to him. She hadn't even wanted to exit the bed. It wasn't like she could do anything to help those who were going into the prison world. So she just had to wait and hope for the best. "Everything will be fine."

Klaus huffed, not sure if he believed this. He ran his hand through her hair. "I will take you to the airport as soon as they let us know that they are back from the prison world. You can remain in Mystic Falls as long as you want, and then, I will come and get you when you are ready to return. I must stay here to—"

"—assess how big of a threat Dahlia will be," finished Maddy. "I know, and I understand. It worries me... knowing that she may get word of this in a few months and book it here. I just hope that in this extra time we have to find a way to defeat her before she shows her face, that we can really get the upper hand. So that she doesn't try to take our kid before we even get a chance to hold it."

Klaus looked down at her stomach, which was only just starting to grow. He took Maddy's hand, placing it right over the spot where he could hear the fetus's heartbeat. "Right there," he whispered. "A million miles per hour, it would seem. It's nervous, likely because you are."

"I'm excited," she corrected him, closing her eyes and imagining that she could hear the heartbeat, too. "I'm gonna see my mom soon."

He didn't want to be a buzzkill, so he refrained from mentioning that her mother might take a bite out of her carotid artery before she took the time to find out about the fact that her daughter was expecting.

Later that evening, they got the news. Those who'd ventured in had all come out, with Lily and the cure. The heretics had been left in the prison world, much to Lily (and Stefan's) dismay. At least, that meant Mystic Falls was safer. Still, Klaus felt nervous about Maddy going alone, and thus, decided that he might as well accompany her. Marcel could keep an eye on things in the meantime.

Enzo had gone to fetch them at the airport. With an excited smile, Maddy had rushed up to him, pulling him into a hug. Enzo and Klaus simply nodded at each other before entering the vehicle that would take them to Mystic Falls.

Klaus kept his head propped up on his fist, watching as Maddy went on and on about how happy she was to get to go back to the Boarding House after so many months, and how she wanted to be the one that gave their mother a tour. However, her joy had come to a screeching halt when Enzo revealed that Damon and Stefan hadn't yet told Lily about her condition.

"Wait, what?" said Maddy. "But they said they'd tell her so that she was mentally prepared."

Enzo hummed. "Well, unless they're telling her now... she hasn't the faintest idea. I believe they wanted you to be the one to tell her. To make the moment... special."

Klaus didn't like the sound of this. "The woman will be in shock if she sees her daughter— who she thinks is a vampire— pregnant and more brittle than those around her. Surely it would be better if she were aware earlier."

"I'll message Damon," said Maddy, bringing out her phone. "I just really hope he sees my message before we get there..."

Obviously, Damon wasn't checking his phone, which was just marvelous. Maddy had stepped out of the car feeling more nervous now, hoping that if her mother hugged her, it wouldn't be tight enough to break her spine.

The door opened just as they walked onto the porch. Stefan greeted them, kissing Maddy's cheek and hugging her before nodding to Klaus and Enzo.

Maddy forced herself not to sprint into the living room, where she could see a wide-eyed Lily sitting across from Damon and Meredith, who didn't seem too happy with their current position.

"Mother," said Maddy quietly as Lily got to her feet.

Lily acknowledged her, looking her up and down. "Madeleine," she said softly. "It is... good to see you."

Maddy started to approach her, already opening her mouth to give her the news, but it seemed that Lily had figured it out by the sound of her heartbeat. She tilted her head, surprised, and stared at her stomach.

"What's wrong with you?" said Lily, confused, taking a slight step back, which didn't escape Maddy's notice. "You sound... like a human. A heartbeat... two... heartbeats..."

"I am human," said Maddy slowly. "Um... it's a lot to explain, but there was this problem with a faction of Traveler witches. There was this spell they did, and I became human. Only temporarily, though, I'll turn back into a vampire soon enough..."

Lily's eyes were still glued to her stomach. "And you're pregnant?"

Maddy nodded. "Yes. I'm... gonna be a mother. You're going to be a grandmother."

She thought Lily would be more excited. But the tight-lipped smile suggested otherwise.

Maddy said nothing of it. "This is Klaus," she said, taking her lover's hand and bringing him closer. "My boyfriend, and the father of my child."

"Klaus," said Lily curiously. "That name... rings a bell. Are you a vampire?"

He assented. "Klaus Mikaelson," he said, unable to keep himself from puffing up his chest slightly. He'd never really imagined what he'd do if he ever met Maddy's parents. But he certainly wanted to make a good impression now that he was standing before her mother. "The Original Hybrid."

Lily's eyes widened. "An Original," she said in a small voice. "I had heard..." she trailed off, and forced a smile. Maddy was already getting a horrible sinking feeling that her mother wasn't as interested in her as she thought she'd be. "You ought to sit down, Madeleine, in your condition..."

Maddy lowered herself into one of the couches, with Klaus at her side.

"I had heard that you and your brothers turned during the war," said Lily. "I figured your father must have been horrified. And then, Damon informed me that—"

"We don't need to go into that," said Stefan uncomfortably, indicating that Damon had happily blurted out that he'd killed their father.

"He was protecting me," said Maddy. "Giuseppe was beating me for having gotten hysterical when he killed Damon and Stefan. Stefan rescued me before he could hurt me too badly. And then, I chose to be turned."

Lily didn't seem to know that her turning had been separate from that of her brothers. "Which of them turned you?"

"Stefan," she said, refraining from mentioning how Damon had refused when she asked it of him.

Lily hummed. "I'm glad that the three of you were able to stick together. Away from Giuseppe. I truly hated that man."

"We know," said Damon snidely. "So much so that you left your kids with him, faked your own death, and then went out to join the Ripper Coalition."

Although Meredith didn't seem to like Lily based on what she'd heard so far, she nudged Damon hard in the ribs, as if urging him to be respectful, considering that Lily was still his mother.

"It's nice to see that you've grown into yourself, Damon," said Lily tightly.

"We had to grow, after you left," continued Damon in a harsh tone. "There wasn't any more time to be a kid. Maddy was fifteen, she still had some time to just be a young girl without many duties, but no— she had to do everything for Stefan, she had to endure beatings whenever she defended him. She became his mother, because you weren't there. And you could have come back for us but you didn't."

As grateful as Maddy was to hear Damon defending her, she cast him a look indicating that she didn't like the tone he was taking. "Damon," she said quietly, "it's fine. It's in the past."

"No, it's not fine," snapped Damon. "Everything became worse for us after we thought that she died. Where were you from 1858 to 1903, huh?" He demanded, looking at Lily. "Just blood-binge-ing through Europe while we carried the loss, took care of Stefan, turned the other cheek each time Giuseppe got mad enough to pound his fists into our faces. No... as far as I'm concerned, our mother died when we buried her empty coffin. You haven't been able to sit still since we got here because you're worried about those 'poor souls' you have in your basement set up like dolls at a tea party."

"Those people saved me from that part of myself," said Lily coldly, which let Maddy know that she was talking about the heretics. "I was banished there because I was a monster. I drank with no remorse from whatever human I could sink my teeth into. But, locked in this cage, I was forced to confront the animal I had become. And, as we ran out of resources, my friends sacrificed their rations for me. And, I knew if I drank everything, as every bone in my body demanded, there wouldn't be enough to wake them. So, I learned to control my bloodlust, for them. These people made me feel humanagain." She faced her daughter. "I imagine you can understand that."

Maddy managed a kind smile. Damon stared at her as if she was some sort of idiot for not snapping at Lily. In the doorway, Stefan had on a poker face. Not letting anyone in on what he was feeling in that moment. Truth was, he was starting to see Damon's point. It was only a matter of time before it fully sank in for Maddy as well.

"You mentioned an angel, earlier," said Lily, sensing that things were getting tense. "The night of my funeral..." she looked at Stefan, "an angel did visit you. It was me. I had just turned, and... I wanted to see my children. But, when I leaned down to whisper in Stefan's ear, the hunger surged. All I could hear was the pulse in his veins, all I could smell was the blood. So, I fled. For your sake. And no matter how deeply you felt my absence, it is half as deep as I felt yours."

Damon's eyes flickered over to his sister, suspecting that Lily was just saying this to win her over. To limit the amount of judgment she'd face here as she pleaded her case to get her stupid heretics back. Of course Maddy would be touched by this. With a baby on the way, she would already understand that connection between a mother and child.

So, of course, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. "But what was it you said, earlier?" said Damon. "That you can't truly be yourself until you retrieve the ones that you left behind? Everything you just said now, is that true, or are you lying to get us on your side?"

"Damon!" Maddy hissed. "Watch your tongue."

"No, I won't," said Damon, rising to his feet. "All she's been going on and on about since we came back is questions about when we're going back to the prison world."

"I wanted us to go into that prison world to get her, because she is our family," said Maddy firmly. "How can you blame her for wanting to do the same?"

"There's a difference, Mads," said Damon, who of course still hadn't been the biggest fan of going to get Lily in the first place. "Lily might actually be useful to you. The heretics, not so much."

"Oh, come on, we don't even know them! It's not our place to judge! They deserve to be free, too!"

"They're six vampire-witch hybrids who used to be siphoners! I'm not a fan of any siphoner."

"Kai helped you all today, and he was perfectly nice about it, too."

"Yeah, and then he dipped as soon as we got out saying that he was going to pack his things because you're apparently paying for him to relocate!"

"I've earned some money of my own and added it to the account, Damon, I can do whatever I want with that money. There's nothing wrong with helping him get back on his feet after a rough patch in life."

"I forget that you like to see the good in people who are complete monsters. You're being naive, Madeleine."

"Excuse me? Look who's talking! The only reason you even have a girlfriend right now is because she chose to focus on the good in you. You're a monster, too, Damon. So am I. So are all of us! Don't you dare act like I'm being stupid just by giving someone who helped us a chance to—"

"You are being stupid, because you're acting as if it's a perfectly good idea to let a group of heretics into our world, when it isn't! You're pregnant, for fuck's sake, you're in enough danger worrying about a hybrid or tribrid baby. You don't need this, Madeleine, just think, goddamnit."

"Damon, she's our mother," said Maddy, gesturing to Lily. "We never thought we would get a chance to see her again, and now she's here. So what if she wants a few more people in her life to feel whole again? It's not like she's saying she's gonna cast us aside completely!"

"What do you think will happen when she gets her heretics back, huh?" he challenged. "You're gonna be one of ninechildren now! You're not gonna be the golden child anymore, Madeleine. They might even hate us." He turned to Lily. "What do the heretics think of us, huh? What did they tell you, when you were coming back for us?"

Lily looked stunned, and quite confused. "When I was coming back for you?" she repeated.

"Yeah," said Damon. "In 1903. You found out we were vampires, you landed in New York Harbor after a forty year romp in Europe, and you..." he stopped. "Oh. You weren't coming to get us."

Both Maddy and Stefan's mouths dropped open. Had they truly been so foolish as to assume that that was why Lily had been coming back to the United States?

"No, I wasn't," admitted Lily, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"Were you ever planning to?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No." Her eyes started to well up with tears. "Even now, I feel nothing. Since I laid eyes on you earlier today, I have been trying with all of my heart to connect with the woman who was your mother, to remember what it felt like to mourn you three after I was banished by your father. After I was turned, the only thing more powerful than the longing I felt for you was the fear of what I would do if I ever saw you again. So, I stayed away. I had to find others who could help me find a way back to myself, and... by the time my new family helped me to do that, everything I felt for my old family was gone. I thought that seeing Madeleine again would be the last piece I needed to feel whole. But even now, knowing what I know now..." she looked at Maddy again, as if referencing her pregnancy, "I still feel nothing. I hate that I can't make myself feel more. I'm so sorry."

Damon scoffed, looking at Stefan, who had a single tear running down his cheek. He then faced Maddy, who had planted her hand over her stomach, staring at the floor, her lip trembling as she tried to stop herself from crying.

Every last fantasy she had about seeing her mother again... all down the drain.

Lily continued, "The woman who raised you all, lived under the hand of a cheating, abusive husband. She was weak, she got old, and died. And then, a new Lily was born— a powerful Lily who took what she wanted and found a family that embraced her. So, when I look at you all... it's... it's not that I don't love you. It's that I'm reminded of that pathetic woman, when all I want to do is forget that she ever existed."

"Well, lucky you, then," muttered Maddy suddenly.

The other woman stared at her. "Lucky me?" she repeated.

"Yeah, lucky you," said Maddy. "You got out of it. You got to be free of Giuseppe. I know how awful it was for you, Mother. I don't pretend to be blind to what he put you through. I was there when he beat you. I remember the time that he struck me so hard because I tried to stop him from laying a hand on you. It truly does please me that you were able to escape him. But I feel... so furious knowing that you left us there. You couldn't have compelled someone to go and get us out of that situation? We spent years being mistreated. Did you know, Giuseppe once nearly killed Stefan from just how vicious he was with him as part of his 'punishment?' Did you know that he once aimed a rifle at Damon's head, saying that if he didn't learn how to shoot better, he'd simply kill him? Did you know that he tried to marry me off to a man just like him? Called me a whore because at the time, I was in love with someone who treated me far better? And let's not forget how he would let his friends grope me, because I was 'a woman now' and 'had to get used to it.'"

Lily looked down at her feet. "I never wished for you all to continue getting abused."

"But we did!" shrieked Maddy, her voice breaking. "God, I would sooner die than let anyone— especially a child— suffer at the hands of an abuser." She took Klaus's hand tightly, and he understood that part of her rage had to do with not only Lily, but Esther. Both women who at one point had the power to stop their husbands from being abusive towards their children, but did nothing about it.

"And you don't even seem to care," continued Maddy. "You don't seem to feel bad. You got to have your fun while we were stuck with bad memories and toxic mindsets that influenced our behavior. Ruined our relationships with each other and other people because we were taught to react with violence and accusations."

"Well," said Lily much less kindly than before, "you're to be a mother now. I would suggest you do better than I did, as you clearly despise the way I handled things." She got to her feet. "If that's all, I'd like to go to sleep. I have much to plan for when we return to the prison world to fetch my family."

Damon decided now was the perfect time to chime in. "Well," said Damon maliciously, "that's not happening, seeing as the Ascendant's been destroyed."

He was bluffing, and Maddy knew it, because Stefan had told her that Kai had taken the Ascendant with him.

But their mother believed him.

Lily's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah, that's right," said Damon. "You're never going back into that prison world. You're not gonna see those heretics again."

Lily's fists balled up. "That is my family in there!" she spat. "How dare you decide that they should stay there for the rest of all time?"

Damon sneered, "Those freaks may be your family, but Stefan, Maddy, and Enzo are mine. And I won't let your heretic Rippers out into a world where they can hurt them. You may not give a damn about Maddy's baby, but I do, and I'll be damned if I let them walk the Earth that my unborn niece or nephew is going to be arriving in soon enough. Tell me the truth, can you guarantee that the heretics won't hurt Maddy?"

Lily didn't know what to say.

"Can you guarantee that you won't hurt her?"

Again, she was silent.

"Do you really think Maddy and the baby will be safe if your 'family' comes here?"

"Enough!" snapped Lily. "I will do whatever it takes to get my family back, and you will not stand in my way!"

Damon raised a brow. "Even if it means hurting your daughter and your grandchild?"

There was a truly evil glint in Lily's eyes as she said, "So be it."

Maddy immediately shot up, staring at her furiously. "Obviously, this other side family of yours is more important," she sneered. "Fine by me. You know, I had a beautiful image of you being there for me when I went into labor. Talking me through it and just supporting me in a difficult moment. But I think I want you as far away from me as possible the day I give birth. I don't want my child to know you, since you care so little about the fact that it would be in danger in the presence of these family members of yours." She faced Klaus. "This was a waste of time. I think I want to go back home." She turned back to her mother. "Goodbye, Lily."

Lily almost didn't seem to care. "Goodbye," she said. "I'm not quite sure it means a thing now, but I truly hope the pregnancy isn't awful for you. May the child be perfect and healthy."

For some reason, Maddy's eyes stung with tears, hearing her say 'the child' and not 'my grandchild.' She truly wanted no part in this. She was completely uninterested in their lives.

And Maddy had been too foolish to realize it.

She didn't speak the entire plane ride back. She slept, resting her head against the window. Klaus had held her hand, caressing the back of it soothingly. He'd heard her sniffle once, completely disappointed with how the day had gone.

"The results from the karyotype are back," said Klaus when he found Maddy curled up in her bed the next morning. "Jo would like to speak with us in person."

"Okay," she murmured. "I'll get ready soon. I just sent Kai his money. He and Monique already connected through text. Seems they like each other so far, which is nice."

"Tell me what's on your mind, love."

"Nothing." She shook her head. "Let's go talk to Jo."

Klaus stopped her from getting up. He sat beside her, putting his arm around her. Immediately, her lip quivered, and she burst into tears.