Epilogue: 11 Months Later

Since the defeat of Dahlia there were very few things that would rouse the beautiful mother of his child from her sleep. Only two proved consistent: his mouth on that one spot where her shoulder met her throat, or Eve.

He remained a light sleeper in comparison. That meant he heard their wonderful child first.

The whimpers reached his ears through the crackle of the video monitor and he sat up, reading the time stamp through narrow eyes.

It was too soon to be awake. She had gone to sleep with a full belly and should have slept soundly until morning.

He pressed a kiss to Elena's bare arm and climbed from the bed before the whimpers could rise to a full blown cry that would wake her as well. He located a pair of pajama bottoms and slipped from the room toward the nursery.

Eve's whimpers turned to sniffles when she saw her dada. She held out her arms.

"Alright, my little fox," he picked her up, "what's the problem?"

Eve snuggled into his neck.

He gave her a hug and then lowered her back into the crib.

He made it three steps backwards when she stood up again.

"Dada," she waved for him to come back. Fat tears in her dark eyes.

He returned and laid her back down, sighing when she stood right back up and started reaching out this time with tears.

"Shh, Evie," he laid her back down and pressed his palm to her belly. "Mama hasn't had a full night sleep since you were born – and yes, that is partially my fault, but tonight we're gonna let her rest. Understand?"

Eve blinked up at him.

When Kol was satisfied that she wasn't going to stand up again he started to back up; only to have her stand up again.

She reached for him.

"You're persistent," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I'll give you that." He watched her for a second and then nodded. "Very well."

He moved her closer to the edge of the crib and used the rocking chair for leverage.

Eve blinked, watching owlishly as Dada climbed into her bed and lay down. She dropped onto her knees and crawled closer to him and put her head on his chest.

Kol's hand settled on her back. He made a half-hearted effort to have her lower her bottom, but it was no use; she was drifting off on top of him with her little bum in the air.

Every time he thought she was under he tried to move her so he could climb out, but in each instant she would wake back up and give him a look he swore she learned from her mother.

Eventually they both drifted off.

In the next room over Elena propped herself up on her elbow and blinked at the video monitor. She stared uncomprehendingly for several seconds before the sight sunk in. When it did she snatched the monitor from the nightstand and pressed a couple of buttons.

Gentle sunlight roused Kol from sleep the next morning, but it took him a second to realize what was wrong.

There was a tiny body on his chest, but that was nothing new. However, cramped legs, and sunlight coming from the wrong angle caused him to open his eyes, when he did he saw Klaus hovering over him with Hope in his arms.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" He shook his head, mirth flashing in his eyes.

Kol frowned, twisting his neck to look around. His eyes widened when he saw the bars surrounding him and felt the stuffed fox under his hip.

"Cut him some slack, Niklaus," Elijah leaned over the crib. "It's only partially his fault; Elena's genetics could only take care of so much."

"What are you talking about?" Kol croaked, rubbing his eye with the heel of his palm.

Eve continued to sleep peacefully.

"You, brother," Finn appeared above his head. "You wouldn't sleep unless mother held you."

"You could be a real terror," Elijah smirked.

"Rebekah was preferable," Klaus chuckled. "You would cry all night; oddly enough it got worse when Rebekah came along."

"I never…" Kol felt his face turning red.

"You did," Finn nodded.

"I was a bloody infant!"

"Actually, at that point you were nearly three," Elijah added, much to his brother's chagrin.

"And you still looked like a little troll," Klaus lifted Hope a few inches higher.

"What's everyone doing in here?" Rebekah slipped into the room with Freya.

"Mocking our little brother," Elijah smirked. "He's made it far too easy."

"Why exactly are you mocking Kol?" Elena chose that moment to join the group, leaving out the fact that she had been listening via the video monitor. There may or may not have been a recording.

"Darling, thank goodness," Kol called, lifting his head to peek between his crowding siblings. "Kindly get me out of here. I can feel my reputation slipping away." He glared up at Klaus.

Eve grunted and shifted higher on his chest until her dark hair tickled his chin.

"A little help, my love?"

"E'e," Hope pointed sleepily.

"Do you miss your little cousin, sweetheart?" Klaus grinned. "It's only been a night since you saw her."

"E'ee," Hope repeated.

"I know just what you need, love," Freya smirked. She plucked Hope from her brother and deposited her in the crib.

"I wanted out of the crib, not more kids piled on me," he rolled his eyes.

"Hope wanted a cuddle," Freya laughed. Hope proved her point by snuggling up close to her uncle and cousin. "Now I need to have a picture of this."

"To think I named my child after you!" He grumbled.

"We all know that was Elena's call," Rebekah made room for the brunette.

Kol turned his gaze on Elena and cocked an eyebrow. She knew his anger was really directed at his laughing siblings because he wouldn't care a bit about crawling into his daughter's crib; she had watched him make the decision.

"Are you going to help me out of here?"

"Sure," she bent over the rail and gave him a quick kiss.

"Not in front of the children," Rebekah groaned.

Elena ignored her, and straightened up, pulling her cell phone from her back pocket silently.

"I just need to do one thing first." She whipped the phone around lightning fast and snapped a photograph.

"Oi," he struggled to move under the babies, "delete that right now. That picture could ruin my reputation."

"More than the video?" Elena bit her lip to hide her smirk. She bent a little closer and whispered. "You're not as quiet as you think you are."

She watched his eyes widen before snatching Eve up and walked out of the room. Smirking over her shoulder when Klaus retrieved Hope with a low whistle.

"You've definitely rubbed off on her."

There we go. The final chapter of the Forgotten, but I'm not done with this universe yet. There is a sequel in the works titled: The Forgotten: Blood Moon Rising