Heartbreak
She had been avoiding Hope for the past week. Of course, Andrea did not make it a simple task because the girl kept begging to have a sleepover with her brother. Josie knowing she could not say no forever had to give in.
Josie took a moment before knocking on the door. She looked down at Andrea and offered her a nervous smile. When Hope opened the door they stepped in. Josie smiled when she saw her daughter run to hug Niklaus. She waited until they ran off to go play in the boy's room.
"Hope can we talk?" Josie asked.
"Of course," Hope answered nervously. Hope sat on her living room couch and patted on it so Josie could join her. Hope looked at Josie carefully, she wasn't sure if over time Josie had become much more beautiful or if she was being biased because she was still in love with the brunette.
Josie sat down carefully. Mason had fallen asleep on the walk and she did not want to wake up the sleeping baby. She left the stroller next to the couch, she wanted to keep her son asleep until she was down talking with Hope. Josie left space between her and Hope, she knew the news she was going to give the hybrid would alter their relationship permanently. Josie took a quick second to collect her thoughts before she said anything.
"It's about Andrea-" Josie began to speak.
"You don't have to worry about Landon. I won't tell him." Hope assured the witch. She rarely saw Landon. The boy had met her son only twice. It wasn't because Hope wanted to, unfortunately, she had a run-in with Landon one day and he took it upon himself to tell her son that he was his father.
"It's not about Landon." Josie clarified. "Hope I need you to listen to me. Really listen and not interrupt me. Can you do that for me please?"
"Yeah, I can do that." Once Hope gave Josie her word, Josie knew she could tell Hope the truth. She was prepared to change her life. She was prepared to possibly lose the woman she loves but she could no longer keep this secret hidden.
"When I left Mystic Falls," Josie began to explain. "I left two days after I found out I was pregnant, I was terrified because I knew that what we did lead to my predicament. However, you were pregnant and already complaining about Landon never being there and I knew I could not take his attention away from you and I could not put us in the awkward predicament where we would have to explain this to my father." Josie took a moment to breathe.
"Look it okay. I could care less plus it is not your fault that Andrea is Landon's-"
" She's not Landon's!" Josie did not mean to shout.
"What are you talking about Josie?" Hope asked confused.
"I thought she was Landon's," Josie confessed. "Throughout all my pregnancy I was convinced she was his. It wasn't until she was born that I found out she wasn't his. At first, I thought I was hallucinating. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me because a million times during my pregnancy I wished she wasn't his."
The conversation came to a sudden halt when the kids came running in. Both of the adults gave them their full attention. Josie wiped the tears away to avoid any questions from Andrea.
"Mommy look, Niklaus has the same mark on his back as me," Andrea said with a huge smile on her face. Josie wanted to go back in time and prevent her daughter from doing what she just did.
Hope looked over at Josie, she could not believe what she just heard. She could not believe her eyes as they landed on what Andrea was talking about. Andrea and Niklaus had the same mark which meant that Andrea had Labonair blood. Hope had that same mark since birth. Hope felt the tears race down her face.
"Josie?"
"I'm sorry Hope."
Hope asked Niklaus and Andrea to go back to Niklaus' room to play. She told them that in a bit she would go get them so they could all go to the park. Once the kids left to go play Josie placed her hand on Hope's. Josie was glad that Hope didn't pull away. Josie wished that the kids had just stayed in the room for one more minute and she would have been able to tell Hope the truth herself.
No words were spoken between the two of them. Josie simply sat there with her hand interwind with Hope's as the tribrid let free her tears.
When Hope was done crying she stood up. She knew her eyes were not playing tricks on her she had seen the mark on Andrea. Hope walked over to her son's room and stood in the doorway watching her son and who she now knew was her daughter. Hope looked back when she felt Josie wrap her arms around her from behind.
"She's ours," Hope whispered, afraid that if she said it out loud she might wake up and realized that this was all a dream. "Does she know?"
"She knows she special," Josie answered. "I explained it to her. Told her she had another parent that she would meet when we got to Mystic Falls. She's been asking me since we arrived when she would get to meet you. I guess I was having a hard time getting used to the idea that she wasn't just mine, that she is ours."
"Please never take her away from me again."
"I would never," Josie promised.
They spent a couple of minutes playing with the kids until they sat them down and explained. Both Josie and Hope answered the questions they had honestly. The kids really had one question, they asked if they could have a family sleepover which Josie agreed to.
Josie let Hope and the kids playing and made her way back to the living room to check on Mason. He was still asleep. Josie sat on the couch and let reality settle in, she has told Hope the truth. That was the easy part the hard part would be telling her family the truth. Josie also knew her parents would have questioned how it happened. Josie wasn't sure she was willing to answer then.
~~~~
When morning arrived Josie was the first one to wake up. Hope was deep asleep cuddling with both Andrea and Niklaus. Josie smiled and made her way to the living room to cook some breakfast.
She worked around the kitchen alone until she heard the footsteps. She looked over her shoulder to see a half-asleep Niklaus. Josie greeted the boy with a smile. She was more than happy when Niklaus asked if he could help her make breakfast. They worked around the kitchen. Josie listened as Hope's son told her about what he loved in school and how he was excited to have a sister and a brother. Apparently, he was counting Mason as a sibling too.
"Good morning." Josie looked over to see Hope. "I am out of coffee so I am going to get us some. Anything you want in particular?"
"I'll take a cold brew with oat milk please," Josie answered.
"Can I go mama," Niklaus asked his mother.
"Yes, go grab a sweater," Hope told her son.
Josie worked silently. She did not want to wake her sleeping kids until she was finished making breakfast. As Josie cooked she checked her phone notifications. She noticed that she had a text from Jade, she had forgotten to let the vampire know she wouldn't be making it home. Josie sent her a quick text explaining and let her know she would make it home later at night.
Josie's attention went to the door that shot open. It wasn't the door that caught her attention it was the crying coming from the young boy. Josie turned off the stove and made her way to Hope and Niklaus. Josie could feel how desperate Hope was to get her son to stop crying.
"What happened?" Josie asked the tribrid.
"We ran into Landon." Hope explained. "He was supposed to pick him up tomorrow but Landon gave him a pathetic excuse as to why he couldn't come get him. It's the fifth time he's done this. What am I going to do Josie he keeps breaking my son's heart? At this point, you've been his parent more than his own father."
Josie got close to the boy who had sat on the couch to cry. She looked over at Hope who had a devastated look on her face. Josie pulled the boy into her lap. Her heart broke when she felt the boy shaking. All the crying was affecting his physical state.
"Niklaus, love can you please breathe for me. Just copy my breathing," Josie took a deep breath held it for three seconds and exhaled. Josie sat there breathing with Niklaus for a couple more minutes. Until she was certain that the boy was calm. "Want to tell me what's wrong?"
"My daddy doesn't love me." The boy told her. "What wrong with me?"
Josie looked up to see Hope face once again in agony. Josie met Hope's gaze and mumbled an I'm sorry. She brought her attention back to the crying boy.
"Well, that is his lost baby." Josie began. "But you wanna know a secret."
"Uh-huh."
"Landon is not your father. You are special like your sister. You have two parents right here that love you."
"You're my mommy too?" Niklaus asked.
"Yes, baby. And I am never leaving your mom or you. I promise." Josie smiled when Niklaus turned around and hugged her. After he ran to hug Hope and left to his room to lay down.
Josie sat on the couch and looked up at Hope. Josie was not sure if the woman was mad or happy.
"What was that about?" Hope asked Josie after processing what happened in front of her. "You realize what you told him he believed."
"Good, I wanted him to believe it. I meant what I told him." Josie answered honestly.
"This means you can't ever leave us. Why'd you tell him that?."
"I panicked," Josie confessed. "I'm not leaving Hope. I promise this is our family they're our kids. I will not allow Landon to break our kid's heart."
Josie smiled when Hope chuckled and sat next to her. Josie felt relieved when Hope placed her hand on her thigh and gently squeezed.