#roasted broccoli you betray me yet again

[asurrogateblog]

was enjoying a new layer of sound in the 2018 remix of dogs that I'd never noticed before. it was my fire alarm going off :/

[bellemorte180]

~Small Overalls ~

For @carolineforbae​, per our earlier conversation. 

The giant white house with the wrap around pouch rested against the setting sun. The fields of wheat bristled in the summer breeze. The sun that was slowly sinking down over the long field caused the wheat to appear more golden than they were during the day. The big oak tree that sat near the chicken coop had a tire swing that a small boy of the age of six swinging from it.

The boy’s laugh could be heard over the yard and into the open window where Caroline smiled gently at the sound.  Her hands were covered in suds as she washed the cutting board and a few dishes as she watched her son swing back and forth on the swing; the chickens clucking in annoyance at the sight. The buzzer on the oven went off and Caroline grabbed a light blue dish towel. She dried her hands and grabbed her phone, sending a text before walking towards the side door and stepped out onto the porch.

“Leo! Supper time!” Caroline turned to head back into the kitchen and pulled the baked chicken from the oven. She checked out of the window again, seeing her son running across the freshly cut grass, some of their hens scattering across the lawn as she ran towards the house. Leo tripped slightly and Caroline made a mental note of setting his overalls to soak overnight to remove the grass stains. Leo came all but bursting through the door just as Caroline was setting the roasted broccoli and some honey biscuits on the blue checkered tablecloth. Leo crawled up to the table and reached for the biscuits, but Caroline stopped him.

“Hey mister. Wash your hands.” Caroline placed one hand on hip while the other pointed towards the sink. The little boy climbed off his chair and went to wash his hands. He pulled the stool Caroline had found at a flea market a few years back when Leo started walking and turned the faucet on in order to put his hands under the running water. “And use soap.”

“Yes Mama.” Leo told her with an impossible sigh and Caroline knew he was rolling his eyes at her. A habit she insisted that he picked up from her husband. As though Leo could read her mind, he asked where his father was. “Where is Papa? He is always here for dinner.”

“Papa is right here.” The sound of her husband’s drawl reached her ears and she could not help but smile. Klaus walked through the archway that lead into the living room. Klaus must have come in from the back door from working in the barn. He was barefoot and Caroline smiled in a pleased manner at the sight; he had kicked off his shoes by the back door after Caroline’s many scolding of him dragging dirt through the house.

“Papa!” Leo all but jumped off the stool, causing Caroline’s heart to leap into her throat at the sight. Leo launched himself in Klaus’s arms as though he had not seen him mere hours ago. Klaus reached down and scooped his son into his arms, tickling his sides, causing the little boy to shriek. Caroline was once again taken aback by the resemblance. The small farming community they lived in all told her that Leo looked like her, until the small boy stood next to Klaus. Leo was a mini incarnation of her husband.

Caroline married Klaus in an October wedding when she was only nineteen, already three months pregnant with their son. Young marriage was a common trend in the community and most did not even blink an eye when Klaus placed his grandmother’s ring on her finger the summer after she graduated high school.  Klaus was working on his father’s farm, having showed up on his doorstep at the age of sixteen when he could not stand living with his stepfather any longer. A fifteen-year-old Caroline fell hard for the boy and the two had been inseparable since. When his father died two years previously, Klaus took over the farm easily, albite sadly.

“Did you wash your hands Papa? You should so Mama doesn’t scold you.” Leo whispered loudly, and Klaus’s eyes flickered to hers. Caroline fought down a smile at the sight of Leo wanting to keep Klaus from getting on her bad side. While Caroline could not claim that they never fought, for all couples did, they did their best to keep it away from Leo’s ears. It could be a struggle at times because Leo was far too curious for his own good and the couple quickly learned to lock their door at night in order to keep him from seeing some other things he should not.

“I don’t know, bubby, getting scolded by Mama can be rather enjoyable sometimes.” Klaus tossed her a mischievous smirk that caused his dimples to perdured on his cheeks. Caroline’s eyes widened and she whipped the towel that was in her hand against his backside. Klaus laughed at the action. “See. Enjoyable.”

“Leo, come sit down and I’ll make a plate for you.” Caroline told her son, fighting to keep a smile from her lips. Leo scrambled to the table and climbed up onto it. Caroline pointed her index finger at her husband and mockingly narrowed her eyes. “And you behave.”

“Never.” Klaus leaned down and kissed Caroline on the lips. Caroline could feel the smile on his lips as he let the kiss linger, both ignoring the exasperated sigh coming from Leo; he was far to use to seeing his parents exchange loving affection. Klaus’s hands touched Caroline’s stomach lightly over her forest green sundress. A knowing look passed between them and the dimples on Klaus’s cheeks became more pronounced as the happiness radiated from his eyes. “I love you.”

“Love you too. Now wash your hands.”

“See! I told you Papa.” Leo exclaimed and Caroline snorted, pulling from Klaus’s arms. Klaus shook his head, and went to the sink, making a rather dramatic show of washing his hands. Caroline shook her head while cutting Leo’s meat and piling a few pieces of broccoli onto his plate despite his little disgruntled face. He knew the rules, he must eat all his broccoli if he wanted any of the strawberry shortcake she had made earlier in the day. Klaus came to the table, ruffled Leo’s curly hair and sat at the table.

“Get yours first, Love and eat. Don’t worry about me.” Klaus told her when she went to get his plate. Caroline smiled at the hints of his overbearingness beginning to show and Caroline knew it would only get worse from here on. She rolled her eyes, knowing full well that he caught the little reaction as she made her own plate. She nodded to their son, who was playing with his broccoli instead of actually eating it and nodded. “Leo? I’m going to need a little help from you next weekend.”

“Does it have to do with the chickens? I don’t like them. They are mean when I try and collect the eggs.”

“No. Not with the chickens or their eggs.” Klaus replied with a laugh in his voice. The memory of Leo’s first time trying to collect the eggs, and his screams of terror, still stood out in their mind. “Uncle Kol is coming by and we are painting the spare bedroom. Can you be a big man help us?”

“We’re going to paint the walls?! Like with the pretty pictures on my walls?”

“Not right away but just the base once you mother finally decided on a color that she wants.” Klaus nodded, taking a bit of his own chicken while Caroline shook her head, a fond smile playing on her lips. “It needs to be ready for when the new family member moves in.”

“Who is moving in?” Leo’s eyes creased in confusion and then lit up in hope. “Is Uncle Kol moving in! That would be awesome!” Caroline could see all the hope playing in Leo’s eyes and it almost broke her heart that her brother-in-law was not moving in with them. Not that she would actually want that to happen because Kol was a handful. She shuttered at the thought of what her son’s manners would be like if Kol lived with them full time. “When can he move in? Can it be tomorrow?!”

“Uncle Kol isn’t’ moving in Sweetie.”

“Oh.” Leo looked dejected. “It’s not Aunt Rebekah is it? She can be scary.”

Klaus nearly doubled over in laughter at that. He placed his elbow on the table and covered his mouth with his hand. Caroline could see his shoulders shaking with laughter as she fought to keep her own lips from betraying her own amusement. The last thing either parent wanted was for their six-year-old son to tell Rebekah, someone who loved Leo more than anyone else in her family, that he found her scary.

“No, Rebekah isn’t moving in either.” Caroline told him and Leo perked up at the thought. Klaus was still fighting down his laughter and she knew that it would be best if she took over from here. “However, it very well could be a girl who moved in there. Or a boy. We don’t know yet, but you will be the first to know.”

“How do you not know?” Leo asked with a confused look on his face. For a second, he almost looked like Elijah with such a thoughtful look on his little features. Caroline could see Klaus slowly calming himself beside her however the amusement on his lips was still prominent.

“Remember how my friend Elena had her little girl last month?” Leo nodded. “Well, that is going to happen to me. Papa and I are going to have a baby and you’re going to be a big brother. Isn’t that exciting?”

“A baby?” Both Klaus and Caroline nodded, almost in a synchronized movement; both studying Leo’s reaction, unsure if he was pleased with the news or not. “But Elena’s baby cries all the time and smells funny.” Leo’s nose wrinkled. “Will this baby smell funny? And does it have to be a girl? I’d rather it be a dragon. Can we trade it for a dragon?!”

“We can’t trade it for a dragon, bubby.” Klaus told him, seeing the slight hurt look on Caroline’s face. “And we don’t know if it is a girl or boy yet. While agree that Damon and Elena’s baby smells funny,” Caroline playfully slapped Klaus’s arm gently. “I think you’re going to love your brother or sister. I think that once they are old enough, you will like having someone to play with. To climb the oak tree with and to push on the tire swing.”

“That does sound like fun.”

“And it will be your job, as the big brother, to teach them all the rules and make sure they follow them.” Klaus told him seriously, and Caroline’s breath hitched as she watched her son’s interest peaking and his attention not wavering from his father’s gentle coaching. “And it will be your duty to make sure they are safe and protected when your Mama and I are not around, because you’re growing into such a big boy. What do you think you can do that?”

“I think I can do that. Maybe having a little sister won’t be so bad.” Leo muttered in a more pleased manner, completely set on the baby being a girl since that is what Elena’s baby was. His blue eyes focused back onto Caroline, who had happy tears falling down her cheeks. She stood up from the table and walked around to pull her son into her arms, kissed his face while he tried to push her way, screeching in happy protest. “Mama! Stop it!”

“I love boy so much baby.”

“If I say I say it back will you stop kissing me?” Leo asked in annoyed protest. Caroline littered his face with more kisses while Leo gave out another protest. “Okay! Okay! I love you too! Stop! It tickles! Stop! Papa! Help!”

“You’re on your own there, Son.” Klaus replied watching the scene in amusement. Eventually Caroline stopped lavishing kisses on her son and went to sit down at the table. Klaus could see the happy tears still streaming down her face and he reached over to take her hand into his, giving it a light squeeze.

“Papa?” Leo’s timid and shy voice reached them, causing the two of them to turn back to him. Leo had his lip between his teeth and appeared deep in thought for moment. “Don’t get mad but I think you might have failed at being a big brother.” Klaus was about to protest but Leo pushed on. “I mean, you have met Uncle Kol, right? He doesn’t follow any of the rules.”

It took Klaus another twenty minutes before he was able to breathe again from the laughter that echoed through their small kitchen and out the open window into the field of wheat.