Fucking around with the gays

Afterward, though, Caroline looks into Hope's school records and files finding out that the Mikaelsons didn't call or visit since Klaus, Hayley, or Elijah died. Freya had come for a few days when she had regained her memory of Hope after she jumped into Malivore but then that was it.

Maybe when she finds out Hope jumped into Malivore, Caroline looks deeper into files about the monster attacks and asks around the school for confirmation and additional information about what happened. The only constants seem to be her daughters and Hope. She can talk to Lizzie and Josie about this and the two do confide in her about how they felt facing the monsters but with the Mikaelsons not making contact Hope doesn't really have anyone to talk with.

And so maybe Caroline looks at Hope, someone who is a year or two over 18, and sees a wounded child that just wanted someone to love them and not lose them for once, a child that would let herself be used over and over again if it meant people would stay. Maybe she sees how Hope reacts to Alaric leaving and understands that while he wasn't the best parent, he was the only one around for her for a few years.

Maybe Caroline takes one look at Hope and wonders who her guardian is and finds out that gasp it's technically no one because the Mikaelsons signed custody of her over to the school so she could stay year-round at the school.

Maybe Caroline said fuck it and decides to officially adopt Hope and bring her under her name because she deserves someone to parent her and godamn it if no one else is going to do it then Caroline will. Maybe she brings it up to Lizzie and Josie first and the two of them would love nothing more than for Hope to be their sister legally since the three are already close.

Maybe when she finally brings it up to Hope, it's during a lull in another conversation about Klaus. Maybe Hope freezes and stares at Caroline quietly for a minute or two, wide-eyed and stunned. Maybe Caroline takes her stunned silence as rejection and immediately starts to backtrack before she gets an armful of the teary girl. Maybe Caroline sits there for a while, with Hope wrapped up tight in her arms and crying quietly, with Hope clinging to Caroline like she's her last lifeline until she stops crying.

And even then Caroline doesn't let go of her. She lets Hope cling to her, she strokes her hair and rubs her back but she doesn't let go. She's more than content to hold Hope until Hope herself is ready to let go, because she would wait however long it takes for this child.

And maybe Hope recognizes that. Maybe she recognizes that she's not getting rejected, that she won't get rejected, and allows the young, wounded part of herself to cling to Caroline, to cry because someone wants her. She lets herself be immersed in Caroline's warmth and in her scent and in Caroline's embrace that feels so much like her own mother's and just lets herself float in the moment. She tells Caroline she would love to be adopted by her after but for now, Hope is warm and content in Caroline's embrace.

After the adoption is officialized, maybe Hope starts sticking to Caroline's side a bit more. Maybe she allows herself to indulge in her more childish whims because she knows Caroline would never judge her for it. Maybe when the Mikaelsons come to Salvatore for one reason or another, Caroline chews them all out. She understands that they all have lives and are following their dreams but they should have checked up on their niece.

Maybe after, whenever someone asks Caroline how many kids she has, she answers them with the proud answer of three. She has three daughters who are as thick as thieves and understand each other better than anyone else. She has three daughters who will defend each other through everything. Maybe they're not her biological daughters but they are her daughters by choice and she will forever be grateful for having them come into her life.

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