Rebekah heard someone closing the front door and waited to see which brother arrived first, she smiled at Elijah as he neared her and kissed her cheek like he always did.

"Why the urgency? I was in a meeting." he warmly inquired.

She nodded towards the kitchen where a blonde woman paced around making a call while the TV news filled the room with troubling reports of casualty among the American troops deployed in Afghanistan.

"… Kol Mikaelson, yes, he was sent there and it was announced on the news just now that a car exploded in Kabul... I just need to know whether he is all right. Yes... I'm aware that it is confidential information but he is my son. It's an emergency!" Esther shouted mad. "Do not place me on hold again, just search for the list with the names of the injured soldiers and tell me if Kol Mikaelson is listed as one of them... I am calm!" she shrieked and took the remote control bringing the volume of the TV up. "Can you hear that? I'm worried about my son."

Rebekah's phone started ringing and she took the call quickly. "Nik? We have a family crisis, mother is panicking because there is news of an army car exploding in Kabul and we can't reach Kol."

Elijah stroked Rebekah's arm gently and went to his mother that stared at her phone flabbergasted.

"They silenced me..." she looked at her phone ready to murder it.

Her son took the phone away before she called them again. "You need to relax mother."

"Relax? My baby boy might be lying dead on some deserted road." she closed her eyes fighting instantly with the awful image.

Elijah smiled in that calm way of his and pulled his mother into his arms to comfort her.

Just as he was doing so, Finn came in from the kitchen door. "What happened, is this about the explosion? I was listening to it on the radio on my way here." It still baffled Finn how he only listened to the news station ever since Kol left on duty.

Rebekah joined them in the kitchen. "Kol might be hurt." she didn't hide how worried she was.

Finn sighed reaching for his phone but not without stroking her face with tenderness. "I know a reporter that is covering that area, he might know something about the attack…"

Esther pulled away from Elijah at once. "Do that, call him at once."

Finn smiled with her urging gestures and then with the familiar voice that came from the other side of the line. "Nate, how are you mate? I'm calling in for a bit of a favor…" he left to the living room to carry on with the call and nodded at Nik as he came inside the house.

The two brothers touched each other's shoulders before Nik went into the kitchen. "I'm sure Kol is all right."

Esther shook her head taming the tears that she didn't want to shed in front of her children. "I just need to talk to him." her voice broke down. "Why did I let him go to that awful place in the first place?"

Nik smiled. "Because he isn't twelve anymore and he makes his own choices in life now."

"Going away to fight a war that isn't his… I should have chained him in the basement and kept him here instead of allowing him to join the army." Esther rubbed her chest, her heart was aching in concern.

Nik sat next to his sister in the kitchen counter seating area and quickly sent a message to his girlfriend, it was obvious that lunch with her was out of the question, this was bound to last.

Finn returned to the kitchen. "Good news, Nate says that he saw Kol last night and that his unit was sent to a smaller town to help with a medicine load that was going to be delivered today. So far there are no reports of incidents aside from that bomb in Kabul."

Esther clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. "Thank the Lord..." she whispered, how she missed her rebel son that spent his days watching TV and speaking on the phone with his best friend. She gasped, his best friend. "Someone should call Bonnie, the poor girl is probably immensely worried."

Rebekah waved her cell. "On it mother."

"Are we calling his 560 girlfriends as well? His harem will be camping out in the front loan if news travel of his impending danger." Nik said calmly.

The others burst into laughter but their mother paid them no attention, she knew Kol was special. "Kol just has a lot of love inside of him to share." she picked up a bottle of wine from the vast collection in the kitchen cabinet. "With the five hundred and such girls he left crying their hearts out when he went away to war." she laughed softly.

Rebekah scoffed. "Amazing how you sound proud of him; he did nothing all day but eat and sleep, he spent his nights partying and you act like he is the golden child. I'm younger than him, I should be treated like the baby of the house, not him."

"Jealousy is not pretty Bekah." Esther said with a peculiar stare.

Rebekah pouted in her seat, it just wasn't fair.

Esther grabbed a few glasses and handed the bottle to Elijah, he took his suit jacket off and easily opened the wine, pouring a fair share for everyone who took a seat at what was still the heart of the house for them.
Somehow they all liked the kitchen island more than they liked the actual dinning table.

"Is Bonnie still dating that detective fella?" Finn asked from the stool next to Nik's.

"As far as I'm aware she's engaged to him." Rebekah said smiling at Elijah who handed her a glass of wine.

"I wish Kol would just realize how perfect Bonnie is for him, she's the only one who understands him." Esther said with a genuine sigh.

"Actually, that's you mother." Nik said having a large sip from his drink smirking into it as Esther gave him a gentle slap on the side of his head.

Everyone grinned because of it and Esther couldn't hold back a smile either. "He's my little baby."

"NAWWW..." They all answered at the same time.

Esther rolled her eyes. "You don't make an effort to understand."

Rebekah and Nik laughed knowing the speech by heart but it still didn't stop their mother.

"Finn is married now with a baby on its way and Nik is in a long and steady relationship, and Elijah is…" she looked at her famous lawyer son.

"Gay?" Finn asked from the rim of his glass propelling a few giggles from Rebekah and causing Nik to choke on his drink.

Elijah smiled at his older brother with disdain while Esther had a deep breath.

"You are all impossible." she resigned and poured more wine into her glass.

There was noise by the front door and a bubbly voice echoed through the house. "Hello?"

"We are all in the kitchen dear." Esther answered warmly.

A tall beautiful blonde came in smiling at the group. "Hey everyone."

They all returned the easy smile and she stopped behind the man sitting between Rebekah and Finn, she touched his neck and he moved his head so he could kiss her.

"Hello sweetheart." Nik sweetly greeted his long time girlfriend.

She kissed him lovingly while stroking his stubble but they didn't linger knowing all eyes were on them.

"Do you want wine Caroline?" Finn asked grabbing a glass for her.

"Sure." she smiled and stood behind Nik leaving a hand leisurely playing with his necklaces.

"I'm making lunch, everyone is here and I'm going to do something grand to eat." Esther started roaming through the pans and set on a plan.

"I have a big trial and I haven't prepared at all." Elijah grabbed his jacket but his mother gave him a stern look so he sat back on the stool. "But I can call April and ask her to bring me the files here."

Esther smiled happy and moved to the freezer removing a huge piece of meat. "Finn call Sage, tell her to come for lunch."

There was no arguing with the Mikaelson matriarch and Caroline always found it amusing how they were all these really tough big guys who commanded respect by just being in a room but did exactly what their mother ordered them, like they were five and they did it without a single loud complain.

"Are you calling your boyfriend as well?" Nik asked his sister.

"We are currently taking a minor break from each other. He thinks that I'm spoiled." Rebekah said annoyed.

"Blasphemy." Nik said serious and shaking his head with a dramatic squint.

She punched his arm. "I'm not spoiled, I just don't enjoy not having my way in everything."

"He has dared to say no to you?" Nik kept his teasing spree.

"He's a sweetheart but I don't think that I'm ready for something like you and Caroline have." she looked at the girl engaged in a conversation with Elijah who now stood behind Rebekah.

Nik smiled. "I'm not ready for what Caroline and I have."

Rebekah laughed. "Maybe I'll call him later then…"

Nik poured some more wine for her. "You do that and if he says no to you again, send me a message and I'll go break his legs."

Rebekah laughed louder now but felt like she was melting inside.

"Thank you." the woman said trying to stop her sobbing fit.

Bonnie smiled warmly at her and then stroked the little boy's hair, he was holding his mother's hand and looking a bit scared. "Are you hungry little one?"

The boy looked up at his mother afraid to answer and Bonnie gulped down her tears, it always messed with her the condition these women arrived to the shelter house after going through so much.
They usually endured a great deal of beating and humiliation before it took them the strength to break free from abusive marriages and relationships.

The woman now clutching a few broken ribs and the hand of a scared young boy was no exception.

Nonetheless Bonnie tried to show a strong face to encourage the woman. "There is food in the kitchen and then someone will show you the room where you will be staying with your son."

"I can't pay for any of this…" the woman said with shame.

"This is a place for you to rest and find your way back. Don't worry about that now, tomorrow after you settle down we will talk about school options for your son and a way to get your life back. This is only a transitional shelter but you can stay here for as long as you need."

The tears came down silently from the woman and she nodded gripping Bonnie's hand. "Thank you." she repeated not knowing what else to say.

Bonnie smiled and waved at one of the volunteers to show them the way to the kitchen.
Another volunteer girl handed Bonnie a few papers that she had to sign and a big bill that had to be paid soon.

Bonnie left to her small office knowing she would have to call her father asking for more money but she would swallow her pride like always, she needed to help these women that showed up at her doorstep desperate and hopeless.
Quickly she checked on her messages and sat roughly on her chair when she reached the one from Rebekah's.

Bonnie pressed her stomach worried, she didn't need this on top of everything else.
She looked at the frame that lived on her desk, a picture of her and Kol making a really silly face, tongues sticking out and eyes pulled together.

Bonnie took the picture that made everyone laugh without seeing the really beauty behind it, this was the perfect way to describe her best friend.
Kol was silly and fun and took nothing serious.

He was also very impulsive and he stunned everyone when he decided to enlist.
Now they all lived on edge worrying about him, specially with the constant news of American casualties.

She was stroking the picture thinking of how much she missed him when a small knock on the door stole her attention.

"Hey." Luka said with a smile.

She returned the smile and stood up kissing him back when he came near her.

"Are you ready for lunch?" she nodded at him but he recognized the concern on her face. "Is everything ok?"

Bonnie closed her jacket slowly. "Rebekah sent me a message, they thought that maybe Kol had been hurt in some explosion but thankfully it was just false alarm."

Luka was instantly distraught, he knew she was close to the Mikaelson since high-school but still their friendship left him unbalanced, not to mention deeply irked.
Somehow Kol was always in the middle of every conversation or joke and the only time he had been out with Bonnie and Kol at the same time, they had spent dinner laughing at things only they understood.

Good thing he had a serious talk with Kol because after that the Mikaelson decided to join the army and leave.
Still Luka remembered with hatred the day he found Bonnie crying because Kol sent her a letter saying he wouldn't be coming home on leave and instead going on another long tour.

Luka had been with Bonnie for only two years now but they had been constantly under the shadow of the other one and that wasn't something he enjoyed, in fact it was starting to rub him off in all the wrong ways.

"I just wish that he would come back home already or that he hadn't left at all in the first place." she confessed.

"He's doing something useful with his life for a change." Luka dropped dryly.

Bonnie knew why Luka couldn't stand Kol, he was a known womanizer and prone to get into trouble.
Luka himself had bailed him out of a few problems on Bonnie's request but still she would defend Kol no matter what and against anyone trying to judge him or his choices.

"We should hurry, I have a busy afternoon." she grabbed her bag and left the office without much affection.

Luka grimaced, now she was upset with him and like always they would end up fighting over the stupid kid that he wanted to throw into prison and forget where he kept the key.
He tucked his weapon and removed his badge, knowing as well that she hated how he walked around the shelter with it.

"Oh my God… you are huge." Caroline said while slowly sitting down and staring at Sage.

"Thank you Care." Sage said with a raised eyebrow and stroking her pregnant belly.

"I mean… it's really wonderful and all but you are big." Caroline shot in her usual way.

They were all used to it and like Nik, they all found her adorable even when she was inconvenient.

"I think she looks perfect and beautiful." Finn said kissing Sage with love.

Caroline pursed her lips. "Cuteness overload."

"When are you going to try one of these?" Sage asked her while entwining her fingers with Finn's and resting them over her big belly.

"Oh. I can't… I'm way too busy with the gallery and Nik is busy with the winery." Caroline laughed and shook her head trying to dismiss the conversation altogether or at least shift the topic.

"You mean the family business that I run with him?" Finn asked her astutely.

Caroline buried her silence into a big glass of wine, she just moved in with Nik, that was the biggest step she expected out of a relationship with him.
Nik was closed up and a bit damaged from a bad relationship with his estranged father, a baby was very out of the question for at least the next 50 years.

"These are the accusation files and this is our first appeal. I've bookmarked everything." April explained handing the iMac to Elijah.

"Thank you April, if I had known my mother was turning this into one of the family gatherings, I would have brought this with me when I left the office this morning."

"That's all right Elijah." she said tucking her short dark hair. "That's why you pay me so well." she cutely smiled.

"April!" Esther interrupted them with joy as she barged into the living room. "Lovely, are you staying for lunch? I will add a plate at the table."

"Oh no, don't bother Mrs. Mikaelson. I have a lot of work back at the office and I should return to it."

"Elijah makes you work too hard." she scolded her son and then said goodbye to the pretty girl.

April searched for her phone attempting to look busy. "I'll see you later Elijah, if not, first thing tomorrow." she awkwardly smiled after staring at him for the longest bit.

"Yes." he said clearing his throat after returning the stare.

Once outside she rested against the front door wanting the universe to answer her the most urgent question of them all, why was her boss so damn handsome and dashing?

Kabul

Kol jumped down from the Red Cross chopper and helped to unload the boxes, he was just handing one to another soldier in his unit when a man rushed to his side.
He was a reporter from what Kol could tell because of the vest and the ID he had dangling around his neck as he ran.

"Hey Mikaelson, remember me?"

Kol shrugged. "Everyone looks the same after a while in here."

"Nate..." the man introduced himself. "I went to college with your brother Finn?"

Kol nodded as he picked up another box. "I think you had dinner once at the house."

"I did. Look…" the man shouted so he could be heard over the loud sound of the chopper. "… he called me today because your mother freaked out when she found out about the explosion in town."

The rest of his unit started laughing and Kol sighed deeply.
He was across the world, at war, and his mother still managed to embarrass him in front of his friends.

"Thanks Nate." he looked away from the reporter upset.

The man actually smiled at him like he had been helpful at all.

"Sergeant Mikaelson?" Another man shouted coming closer, it was a uniform this time.

"Well, aren't I the popular one today?" he sneered recognizing what the man was holding in his hand.

He handed him a folded paper and then nodded once before turning away.
Kol opened the paper with new orders, expecting to be sent out again on another mission but he had to read everything twice as the words left him bewildered.

"Sarge?" someone from his unit asked curious.

"Where are we going now?" Another one asked trying to read the paper himself.

"Home." Kol said with a growing smile. "We are being sent home."

The men were more than euphoric, they had been on tour for almost 15 months now, being rotated within their tour of duty. Their own fault to be honest for being so damn good at what they did but like them, as much as Kol loved this new life, he missed his family.

And he missed her.
Kol clutched the paper in his hand happy, he was going to see those green eyes of hers soon.

Soundtrack:

Between the raindrops – Lifehouse ft. Natasha Bedingfield