The Vampire Diaries

"Even though I'm not hungry?"

Malvolio nodded in response to that.

"There's not much to tell, Ari died when he was too, and Ragnar was four. They died within a day of each other due to a winter chill, probably pneumonia I think, no matter how many furs they were wrapped in or fires I lit, they just didn't get warm again." Eri whispered with a shrug, looking down as she spoke so he wouldn't see the look on her face.

---

Adam hugged her back tightly. "Asa sweetheart, what is this? Again?"

"Alright daddy" she mumbled wrinkling her nose.

"Not the bad things, tell me nicer things. When they were healthy, their habits, things like that." He whispered quietly, kissing the top of her head.

---

"Maybe I just need to yell at you for being an idiot and not listening to me." Astrid mumbled, "Why did you go after her daddy, I warned you, I told you he'd kill you if you went there but you didn't listen…. Learnt it wasn't the first time he killed you though, was it? You said it were wolves from a rival pack last time, why did you lie?"

---

Malvolio kissed the top of her head, "Good,"

She nodded her head looking up at him. "Is it time to go yet?"

"Mhm,"

"Because telling you I had my throat ripped out instantly by a wolf was better than telling you I was tortured before my death by someone close to you and your family." Adam mumbled quietly as he held her tightly.

---

"Ari was loud, very very loud. A proper little boy. He was very hyper and wanted to do everything all the time, he always had a grin on his face as he rushed around chasing the animals. He was great at rounding up the chickens. He wanted to be a raider when he grew up, like his father... And Ragnar was always quiet, serene. Four going on forty, his father would joke. He was thoughtful and sweet, and I'd wake up most mornings to fresh flowers on the kitchen table..."

"They both sound lovely," Karl whispered, "I'm so sorry you lost them, I'm glad I didn't lose any of mine. Glad I was the first to go. I can't imagine how painful it was."

---

Astrid just let out a sigh and buried her face in the crook of his neck, "Have you been watching me at all? You know anything about my sons?"

Saffron quickly gathered her things putting them into her bag. "I'm ready."

"Shall I walk you in or drive you?"

"I wanted to die." Eri admitted, "I didn't want to live without them, I'd have thrown myself into the sea from the cliffs, but soon after I buried them I realised I was pregnant again. Though I lost that baby when I was turned."

---

"I know you named one after me, but I've tried not to watch, to let you have your privacy."

Karl just frowned deeply and kissed her forehead gently.

---

"Adam has Kol's talent for fixing cars, has taken it up professionally to ran money. He struggles with the more academic things, and he has an attitude on him sometimes. I think he gets the attitude from Kol too." She replied with a quiet laugh, "Adrian, his twin, is the brightest boy you could ever meet. He has such a determination to do what he wants to with his life that he has restarted college gosh knows how many times… he's a sweetheart, like Adam is, though I think he's sick and tired of everything now, family things that keep preventing him from graduating which is fair enough. He always feels like the unloved one too, because he wasn't named after anyone like Adam was named after you which obviously makes Adam feel terrible.  It wasn't such a smart move, naming him after you because now no matter what I do and try Adrian never feels like I love them equally." she whispered. Finally concluding with, "Then there's Karl, the eldest that I thought I would never get the chance to ever meet. He uh… fell for Kol's daughter Eri… and they are always off on cruises and things like that, we don't really see them that much."

"Can we walk through the forest on that dirt again? Please daddy!."

"They sound like good boys." Adam whispered, though he frowned a little at her description of Adrian, and even more so when she mentioned that Karl had fallen for Eri.

---

"Life sucked for me back then, big style." Eri mumbled.

"No Saff, maybe on the way home from school yeah?" Malvolio replied before asking as a compromise.

---

"They are, all three of them are brilliant." She replied quietly before whispering, "You don't want to come back, do you?  By your initial reaction of asking 'again'…. It's fine if you don't.  Least I can say bye to you properly if you don't."

---

"Mm," Karl hummed with a frown.

(( Sorry my phone died ))

"I don't know where I'd fit into your life Astrid. It seems you're doing okay without me, I wouldn't want to intrude."

---

Eri was quiet then.

---

"So you don't want to…" Astrid whispered, flinching at his words and taking a step back from the hug. Letting her gaze meet his.

---

Karl held her close.

"I don't want to come back, disappoint you again and then have Niklaus kill me, again."

---

"What about your kids? You've never mentioned them. All I know is that you had a daughter you named after your mother and a few sons, but I only know that because it was me that helped Tatia do all the research on your mother and her line."

"Only thing that disappointed me was you doing things I told you not to… which led to you being killed. If you would of just listened to me…" Astrid whispered.

---

"Mm, there isn't much to say really."

"Could we stop by the stream and watch the fish swim through then after school?" She asked adding to the compromise.

"Come on, I told you about mine..."

---

"I'm sorry I disappointed you Asa."

Malvolio nodded in response to that, "Of course,"

---

Astrid just let out a small sigh and shook her head, "I think the worst thing about it was is that you done exactly what they had told me you would do…. That I had been so confident you wouldn't, even if it were just for me… you proved them right, and now they take every chance they can to be horrible about you in front of me. I just wish you would of proved them wrong… you still have a chance too, one more chance. Eventually the boys'll come around and want to meet you, they won't think badly of you, won't mimicking the things Klaus and mum have been saying if they actually meet you…"

---

"But I don't want to tell you about them when they had normal, full lives. I don't want to upset you."

"I want to hear. They had normal lives, it sounds happy. I want to hear something happy."

---

"And has your mother approved of this, mm?"

"Yay! Can we go now daddy?" She asked jumping up and down.