Maddy didn't want to let go of Hope.

She held her every chance she got, sitting with her for hours in the NICU, fingers delicately caressing the little girl's hand while they waited to be able to take her home. Since she was doing fine, they only had to stay for another week before they would be allowed to take her to the Compound. Maddy hadn't even wanted to leave the hospital until they were certain Hope could come with them, too.

Everyone had gotten a chance to hold her by then. Even Ansel had dropped by to see her one afternoon that Klaus had gone to the store to get all the baby clothes that they hadn't yet purchased, since they had not expected her to be born so soon. He'd rocked her gently, smiling down at her, noting that her eyes were a dark blue, just like Klaus's.

"Thank you, for everything," said Maddy gently as she sat beside him, opening her arms to take Hope back once Ansel was going to leave. "If you hadn't been there, we both would have died."

He smiled slightly. "It was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing, Ansel, I literally died. I wouldn't have made it out alive if I'd been alone in there with Dahlia. She would have Hope and I'd just be in the Salvatore crypt, rotting away. It's thanks to you that Nik and I have our daughter with us."

He blushed. "How has he been with her?"

Maddy beamed, looking down at Hope, who had fallen asleep again. "He adores her. He's the only one who can calm her down when she cries. For some reason she prefers to be on his chest instead of mine. He talks to her when he thinks I'm asleep. Holds her in front of the window, telling her what her room looks like and how he's already gotten the perfect stroller so that she can see the world when we go out to walk. He feared he wouldn't be a good father, but he's already an excellent one." She put her hand on Ansel's arm before he could leave. "Please come and visit, whenever you'd like."

Ansel shook his head. "Niklaus will not like it."

"And how would you know what I'd like?"

They both froze when they saw Klaus in the doorway. He walked in slowly, hands tucked behind his back. "Forgive me," said Ansel quickly, moving away from Maddy. "I only wished to meet—"

"It isn't a problem," said Klaus calmly. "As Madeleine said, you are welcome to visit." It was clear he still wasn't a big fan of Ansel, and Maddy figured he probably wouldn't want to be present if Ansel came to spend time with Hope, but it was a step in the right direction if he was welcoming Ansel to the Compound even if he would be there. He obviously knew that without Ansel, there would be no Hope, and no Maddy, either.

Ansel's smile was much bigger this time. "Thank you," he said simply, before facing Maddy and nodding. "Get some rest, now."

He walked by Klaus on his way to the door, and Maddy was happy to see that the hybrid didn't tense as Ansel passed him.

"Everything alright?" he asked, coming to sit beside her.

"Everything's just fine," she said, passing Hope to him. "She was awake for him the whole time. Didn't do much more than gurgle, but she moved her hands when he was bottle feeding her."

Klaus looked down at his daughter, who whined a bit in her sleep once she settled comfortably in his arms. "She is absolutely perfect," he whispered. He turned to Maddy, putting one arm around her. "I haven't thanked you yet, love."

She raised a brow, resting her head on his shoulder. "For what?"

"For giving us a beautiful daughter. Enduring a truly terrifying labor and a pregnancy where I kept you trapped out of fear that something would harm you. I hope one day you can forgive me for that."

"Oh, Nik," she whispered. "Please don't feel bad about that. It sucked being stuck inside but it kept me safe. Literally, the two times I left the house, something bad happened to me. Mikael, and then Dahlia... you were protecting us, just as you always have."

"And always will," he added softly. "I'm not letting either of you out of my sight ever again. Especially you..." he glanced at Hope, who'd opened her eyes. "Oh, no, no... go back to sleep. I did not mean to disturb you."

"You didn't," said Maddy, adjusting the tiny beanie on her head. "She opened her eyes when I was talking."

Klaus hummed. "I suppose she, like her father, can't resist wanting to stay awake to hear you speak. You sound like an angel."

"I say 'fuck' every other sentence, I don't know how angelic that is."

"I yell every other sentence out."

They both made faces at each other before glancing at Hope, who was still awake.

"If her first word is a curse word, I'm gonna find a way to blame Damon," mused Maddy.

Klaus smirked. "And if she has a tendency to speak loudly, I'll blame Rebekah." He tilted his head slightly. "Have you given any thought to the power-transfer spell?"

Maddy shrugged. "No sense in doing it yet. If we do it, it might have a lot of side effects, and it'll just take me away from Hope, and being away from her would drive me crazy. We can do it once we're all back at the Compound. Jo thinks it'll work fine as long as Freya and Kol help. She says they'd essentially be channeling Alaric, giving me back the power I had when I was a regular two-hundred-year-old vampire, and simultaneously making him a regular vampire, which he prefers to being an Original. By the way, how nice is it that Hope's birth helped Kol return to a body he likes? It's honestly a very beautiful thing."

"Freya was already thinking of doing the same for Finn."

"Well, if she wants to, she should. I think he'd like that. He deserves a chance to live, free, in a body where he can be happy."

The Original rolled his eyes, and Maddy frowned. "Nik, come on, he's your brother."

"He wanted you to terminate the pregnancy. He would have been willing to hurt you."

Maddy bit her lip. "He had a chance to hurt me. He came by the house at one point to talk to me. And he didn't lay a finger on me. He may have wanted to, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. I think he deserves freedom, just like anyone else. Maybe he'll be a better man when he's not tied to this family. Your mother kind of forced him into a lot of things. Manipulated him through making him keep secrets. He felt he owed her, or something. That's not normal. And now that she's gone for good he might finally be able to breathe without worrying if she'll approve of how he inhaled and exhaled."

Hope's eyes started to close again, and Maddy dipped down to kiss her forehead. "Go to sleep, pretty girl. Don't mind us talking. Sweet dreams, my angel."

"I've only known her a few days," said Klaus softly, "and already I am certain I love her. You two are all that matters to me in this world."

_

A week later, they were able to take Hope to the Compound.

Klaus had stocked every drawer in the nursery full of clothes for her, and had boxes of diapers already prepared on the changing table. There were new pillows and blankets ready to keep the tiny girl as comfortable and warm as possible.

"You outdid yourself," mentioned Maddy when they lowered Hope into her crib. "This looks so perfect, Nik."

"Eventually," he said, "she could move into a different room once she has outgrown this one. Whichever one she likes."

"And then you'll decorate that one for her, too?"

"Of course. Unless she wishes to add her own flair to it."

"You're going to be painting unicorns on the walls."

"They will be the best unicorns the world has ever seen."

"I don't doubt that." She massaged her own arms. "I'm going to shower, I feel gross. Be back soon."

When she returned, she found Klaus sitting in the rocking chair beside the crib, one of his hands inside so that Hope could wrap her tiny palm around his pinky.

That same day, they performed the power transfer spell. Maddy figured she ought not delay it anymore. She didn't want to be at a disadvantage with newbie vampire abilities in case any enemies like Dahlia came to try and hurt her daughter. So far, the witches had done nothing to them, but it was clear they didn't like knowing the tribrid resided just a few houses down from them.

"Is this gonna hurt?" she asked when she was being laid down on the kitchen table

"It will, most likely," admitted Freya. "However, the pain will fade soon after as you feel the power flowing through you again. Naturally, you will need to continue working out to ensure you are still strengthening yourself as much as possible beyond what's granted to you today. But with this... you will be reverted to the state you were in before you became human again."

"You sure there's no way to just give her all the power?" asked Alaric nervously as he stood beside Maddy. "Make her an Original instead of me? She could use that."

"Unfortunately, no," said Kol. "If we took all your power, it would simply kill you. Not to mention she wouldn't know how to handle that much power. It could do more harm than good. This transfer should be enough. Right then— link hands."

Maddy grabbed onto Alaric's hand, bracing herself and taking a deep breath. The witches started to chant, and immediately, she gripped tightly, gritting her teeth hard as a searing pain shot from her head down to her toes.

For a moment, she was certain she would black out. It was like every nerve of hers had been lit on fire, and she was simultaneously being prodded with needles and hit with hammers.

Then, suddenly, it was all gone. And the way her body felt was unlike what she'd had to endure in the past days, with a simultaneous feeling of strength and weakness. She'd felt stronger due to being a vampire in comparison to her previous human state. But she'd been conscious of what she lacked when she compared it to how she'd felt just before she became human. This felt completely normal. This was what felt right.

"I think it worked," said Maddy, flexing her fingers and sitting up, albeit still a bit sore. "How can we test—?"

"Easy," said Marcel. "We spar and see how you do."

Maddy made a face. "Hold on, you're older and more experienced than me regardless—"

"Yeah, but I also train newbie vampires, and I know how much strength they can muster. I can tell when I'm fighting an older vampire. Unless you'd rather fight one of your brothers."

"I decline that offer," said Damon from the courtyard, where he was rocking Hope's stroller so that she could be lulled to sleep. "I'm on baby duty."

Stefan and Enzo both made a gesture that indicated they also preferred to be on baby duty. Maddy knew their real reason: they wanted front row seats in case she got her ass beat.

"Fine, I'll spar with Marcel," she said. "Just not here. You said you're turning St. Anne's into a fight gym. I'd feel better if we did it there. I don't want the racket to wake Hope. She didn't want to fall asleep last night because someone," she glared at Enzo, "couldn't stop singing in the shower."

"Excuse me," said Enzo, feigning offense, "I was under the impression that there were silencing spells on every room in this house. Besides, if my niece wants to listen to my beautiful baritone, then she's perfectly welcome to."

"I'll stay with Hope," offered Jo. "I have to get to my next shift soon enough and I'd rather stay with the baby, no offense."

"None taken," said Marcel smugly. "We all know I'm gonna win."

"Hey," said Maddy, "I grew up with two brothers and now have three. It's not gonna be that easy to take me down."

"I grew up with the Originals."

"Fuck."

Surprisingly, Maddy didn't do as bad as she had been expecting. It became clear very soon that the spell had worked. Marcel had tried to toss her into a wall, but she'd dug her heels into the ground and flipped him over her shoulder, pinning him to the ground for a moment before he managed to break free, and they went back to throwing punches.

Maddy had called for a time out when she found herself feeling a bit out of breath, due to the fact she hadn't kept up with fight training once she'd learned she was pregnant. She'd worked out throughout the pregnancy, but it wasn't the same as actively sparring with someone to keep her condition.

"Not bad," said Marcel, patting her back as she sat down, trying to steady her breathing. "Little more practice and you could beat me."

She craned her neck to look up at him. "Soon enough, I will. I'm gonna come to the gym every day now while Hope is asleep."

"Isn't it like a rule that when baby sleeps, mom sleeps?"

"Okay... maybe that might not start til another month when I get used to this, but soon enough, I'll kick your ass, Marcel."

"Or you could just help me train the other vampires."

"Maybe."

It took more than a month for her to get adjusted, but soon enough, Maddy was indeed in the gym every afternoon while Hope napped in her portable bed, which was often set up in Klaus's art room so that he could supervise her while he painted.

Damon, Stefan, and Enzo had stayed until March, once Maddy's birthday came and went. She'd been ever so grateful for their presence there, glad that they'd been able to help her as she got used to motherhood. Damon and Stefan would be returning permanently to Mystic Falls, aside from visiting during the holidays (which they would take turns to do, so that Hope could also get to know Mystic Falls). Enzo would be returning during the summer once Liv graduated, so that the Parker sisters could be closer together.

Maddy was enjoying being a mom. She went out with Hope and Klaus every day. She talked to her daughter as much as she could. And in those moments where she was able to relax, she got to watch how Klaus doted on her, reading her stories and telling her about adventures he'd had, even though Hope was too young to understand what he was saying.

Of course, she and Klaus still took every opportunity to spend time alone together. Freya, Elena, Bonnie, Jo, and even Hayley were always happy to watch Hope when the couple wanted to go out for dinner (which usually included feeding on tourists and returning to the Compound for some much needed sex).

"I'm excited for date night tomorrow," said Maddy, wiggling her eyebrows at Klaus while she changed Hope after her bath. "Though, I'd like to know what it is, so I know how to dress."

Klaus smiled innocently. "I suppose you'll just have to wait."

"Hope," said Maddy, "tell your father that I don't like being underdressed or overdressed."

"Hope," replied Klaus, "tell your mother that she will look ravishing no matter what she wears, and that is why she needn't know where we're going. If you must know, it'll be a more formal event."

"So, a dress then?" She picked her daughter up. "Want to help me pick something to wear?" She led Hope to the closet, where her dresses were hung up. "You can reach out to whichever one you like."

Hope turned back to look at Klaus, who pointed at the dress to the far right, a short black evening dress with an incredibly generous cleavage.

Maddy scrunched up her nose. "Mmm, that one's nice but I would only wear that to a club. Are we going to a club?"

"I'd never take you to a filthy establishment like that unless it was thoroughly cleaned and filled with only delicious humans that I know you'd enjoy to feed on."

"So not a club. Well, what is it then?" She pouted when he refused to tell her. "I died birthing our daughter, I deserve to know—"

Klaus plucked Hope out of her arms. "Madeleine, I adore you, but you cannot keep using that card on me to make me do your bidding."

She batted her eyelashes. "If you have a problem with it, you should stop doing my bidding each time I bring it up."

He smirked. "Very well, then. I've... decided I wish to host an art show."

Her eyes lit up. "An art show? With all your paintings?"

"Yes. I spent the better part of a millenia trying not to draw my father's attention. And now he's dead, and all those who stood against me have been vanquished... I see no reason the fruits of my labor should go unappreciated."

She moved closer to him. "Are you displaying the ones you've made of me?"

"Only the ones where you're mostly covered. The ones where you're nude are not for the public."

"I wouldn't mind if you showed them off. They are still your works."

Klaus's lip twitched. "I'm far too jealous for that and you know it. At any rate, I was hoping you'd like to escort me to tomorrow's opening night. The exhibit will be up for a week. My siblings can attend on other nights. Tomorrow, however, I wish to be just for us."

She curtsied playfully. "I'd be happy to escort you. Are you sure Hope can't come with us?"

"Would you like her to?"

"It might be a cute family outing. This is more than just a date night, this is a really important event for you. Both of us should be there to support you if your siblings aren't going until another evening."

"My two favorite girls escorting me to my art show," hummed Klaus. "I like the sound of it."

"I told you," said Maddy sweetly, "our last name means a lot when it relates us to a famous painter."

The next day, Maddy put on a less revealing black dress to match with a tiny little frock Rebekah had purchased for Hope. Before they'd headed off to the St. James Infirmary, Maddy had gone to see Cami, who had told her that she needed to speak with her, urgently.

"What's up?" she said, smoothing down her dress a she sat up at the bar.

"You look fancy," said Cami, managing a smile. It was clear to Maddy that something was making her nervous.

"What is it?" she asked, more worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

"It might be nothing. But it also might be something." She pulled out a file. "These are crime scene pictures from a recent murder that took place here. Tell me what you think."

Maddy opened the file, and frowned when she saw a man bound in ropes, a smile carved onto his face. "He's set up like a puppet... that's odd."

"There were no ligature marks," said Cami. "No signs of a struggle. And the man lost a lot of blood. Vincent found out about it through his detective friend, Will Kinney. Jo was able to examine the body before it made it to the resident ME, and she thinks the same thing I do— this was a vampire's doing. The man was likely compelled to sit still and just... die. I asked Marcel about it, and he's sure it wasn't any of his guys. I don't know Elena enough to ask her if this was Elijah, which I'm sure it wouldn't be even after the rough patch he went through some months ago. Kol isn't a vampire anymore, Rebekah's hardly in the city..."

"You think this could be Klaus," deduced Maddy.

Cami winced. "I don't want to make assumptions, I just don't know. It's definitely not your brothers, they're already back in Mystic Falls. And I highly doubt it would be you, so..."

"This isn't Klaus, I'm sure of it. He's always home. I'd know if something was up. He's been at the Compound all day because he can't decide what to wear to his art show. Besides... Klaus is more of a 'rip-your-heart-out' or 'chew-off-your-head' then 'burn-you-in-a-dumpster' kind of guy. He doesn't position his victims in any way. That's more of a Stefan thing, honestly, but like you said, my brothers aren't in the city anymore. No... this is surely a new vampire. Someone who recently moved in. We've been getting a lot of new faces in all three supernatural communities. I'll see what I can find out."

"Just be careful, okay?" said Cami. "This could be someone really dangerous. I've never heard of a vampire doing this when they could get rid of the bodies in a more efficient way to keep themselves under a radar. This... this is intentional, and that scares me."

Maddy patted her hand. "It'll be okay, don't worry. I'll keep my ear to the ground and if I hear anything, you'll be the first to know."

Cami smiled. "Thanks. Have a good time at the art show."

The other woman smiled, waving at her before heading back out the door.

At eight o'clock sharp, she, Klaus, and Hope headed to the St. James Infirmary, where Klaus had set up his exhibition. Already, there were many people there, admiring his paintings. Maddy held onto his arm as he led her around, showing her how he'd grouped the different types of works together. There was an entire corner devoted to just paintings of her, wearing different outfits.

"I especially like this one," Maddy told Hope, gesturing to one where Klaus had painted her laying in a field of flowers. "Your daddy came up with this one all on his own. I never posed here, but he imagined it and made it look so real."

She noticed Klaus wasn't listening. She saw him looking around intently, and she realized he was eavesdropping on the conversations around him. How everyone was reacting to his art.

"It's a derivative fiasco," said an art critic in front of one painting where Klaus had shown Maddy, half-asleep and tangled in bedsheets back when they'd been in Mystic Falls. "Little atmosphere, less technique. It's nothing more than a self-congratulatory ego trip."

She instinctively moved closer to Klaus, taking his hand. She sensed another presence, on the other side of him, and a man's voice suddenly said, "I wouldn't expect you to host an art show without compelling the critics to speak your praise."

Klaus smirked, and that let her know that he knew this man. "And I wouldn't expect an uncultured savage to crash such a formal affair."

Maddy stepped away so that she could see the dark-haired man, dressed in a suit, with a mischievous smirk that matched Klaus's rather well. "Yeah, not my usual scene," he admitted. "Though, that mouthy blood bag does have a point. Your work is derivative—"

"Oh?" asked Klaus.

The man clasped his hands together. "Of Degas, I'd say. Although, I happen to know that you compelled Degas to mentor you. I always thought his work improved after your influence."

"Finally!" said Klaus, amused. "Someone with an eye for art."

"Well," said the man, "live long enough and you develop a taste for it... among other things. Speaking of which, can we please have a drink? I am quite parched."

"Nik," said Maddy calmly, "I don't think I've met this friend of yours."

Klaus put his arm around her, something which made the other man's lip twitch, though it was so slight, Maddy barely noticed it. "Lucien, this is Madeleine, my wife and the mother of our daughter, Hope. Madeleine, this is Lucien."

"Your first sireling," said Maddy knowingly, holding Hope a bit tighter as she reached out to shake Lucien's hand. She remembered everything Rebekah had told her about him.

"Let's take it from the top, shall we?" asked Rebekah, when she'd been torturing her after finding out that Maddy kept her mother's murder a secret from her. "Let's see... the year 1002. After we turned. After Nik first spouted that lie that Mikael had killed our mother. We ended up in Southern France, and with the help of a servant, gained access to the home of the Count de Martel. That servant boy, Lucien, became Nik's first sireling. He was his friend. A close one. And what did Nik do? He went after the Count's daughter, Aurora, knowing how much Lucien loved her. He began his affair, hiding it from Lucien, and was rather rude when Lucien found out about it. Lucien was actually tortured because of it. Nik fled from Aurora's side with ease, but Lucien could not, and was caught with her by the Count's son, Tristan. Oh... Tristan hurt Lucien quite savagely. And though Nik healed him, which later led him to be turned, I always knew that Lucien never forgave him. I later turned Aurora. Elijah turned Tristan. When it came time for us to flee, Nik asked Aurora to come with him. She refused. Said some nasty words and broke his heart. According to him, she and you are the greatest loves of his life. And given that he hates her, well... I suppose that makes you rather special." Her wicked grin widened, "It'll only make it more painful when he finds your corpse."

Despite how friendly Lucien was being, Maddy didn't trust that he had good intentions.

And, though she normally was very a secure person, she felt a bit nervous wondering if maybe this had something to do with Klaus's ex.