salvatore school } { of homeless teenagers and sleep-deprived parents

[vampireboulevard]

Caroline: [and she makes her way over to the Braedan house, knocking on the door. She did text Elena to see if Ben was home and that she wanted to talk to them both, because surprising new parents when they might be sleeping is not a good plan. Once she hears footsteps inside, she glances over to Baal] They're good people. You'll be in good hands.

Baal: [he nods, but he feels weird still in his new clothes. At least he was allowed to wear sandals when not in class. He hoped that these people would let him wear other clothing that didn't choke him.]

Ben: [he is sleep deprived and only awake because of three cups of coffee. Work in the morning, baby in the evening, and sleep comes somewhere between them. But he knew Caroline was coming over so he took a shower and is managing not to look like someone a truck ran over. He opens the door, smiling] Hey. [and there is a teenager with her] You brought company.

Caroline: I did. This is Baal. I found him in Egypt.

Elena: [she senses quietly where this is going but she appears over Ben's shoulder, bouncing baby Jonathan lightly as she smirks as her best friend] And you brought him home like a souvenir?

Caroline: I hear what you're implying and before you judge me, I want you to hear me out.

Baal: [and he's looking between the three of them, listening actively]

Ben: This is going to be good. Come in, both of you.

Elena: [shakes her head before waving them all inside] Do you want anything to drink? We have coffee, water and maybe juice?

Caroline: I'm fine. Can I hold the baby though?

Elena: [nods before shifting him off her shoulder so that Caroline can coo over him while they get settled]

Baal: Do you have milk?

Ben: One milk, coming up. [he gives Elena the "sit with your devious friend" look before going to get the kid a cup and probably a few cookies.]

Elena: [and they will, making their way into the living room, and Elena will sit them down] So. What happened?

Caroline: Baal was living on his own in Egypt. He's a werejackal. I gave him the opportunity to come and hang out with people like him and he accepted.

Elena: [turns to Baal] You did accept of your own free will? She didn't pull a Caroline Forbes and bamboozle you to the point where the next thing you know you're on a plane to the states and don't quite remember what you agreed to?

Baal: I don't understand. What is bamboozle?

Elena: It means that she confused you into saying yes.

Baal: I was not confused. My God blessed my journey.

Elena: Okay. Just making sure. [turns back to Caroline] And you've brought him to me because?

Caroline: Because while we could just house Baal at the school with all the other orphans, since he's from out of the country, I thought it might be easier to get him acclimated if he were living with an actual family.

Elena: [nods slowly] With my family.

Caroline: If you and Ben were interested, yes.

Ben: Interested in what? [returns with the milk and a small plate of cookies, both placed in front of Baal.]

Baal: [smiles and sits on the floor, cross-legged, and picks up the milk.] Thank you.

Ben: No problem, kiddo.

Elena: In Baal coming to live with us during summers and school holidays.

Ben: I see. [and he will flop down beside her] You do realize we just had a baby.

Caroline: I do, and he is precious and adorable. But I need someone local with great mom energy, and unfortunately I am not going to be around a lot, and while Baal is making some friends, the twins aren't two of them.

Elena: [nods slowly] Do you have a plan B?

Caroline: I do. So zero pressure.

Baal: I can care for myself. I just need a tent.

Elena: [shakes her head] No, Baal, you don't have to live in a tent. I'm pretty sure the government would have something to say about it if we let that happen.

Ben: We? [he gives Elena a raised eyebrow with a smirk. He's pretty sure her mind is made up]

Elena: General we, as the adults in this scenario. [her mind is not made up, she wants to talk to him first. She reaches for his hand, and pulls him up] We are going to go talk where Caroline can't eavesdrop. If you want more cookies, Caroline knows where they are. [and she will tug her husband into the soundproofed bedroom]

Baal: [nods, but he's taking his time, trying to make them last. He'll probably have food insecurity habits for a long time.]

Ben: [and he'll follow his wife, going to sit on the bed as the door closes] So what are you thinking?

Elena: [sighs] I don't know. He's not a toddler, right? So he could probably manage a bit on his own. He doesn't need us looking after him twenty-four seven, and most of the year he'd be at school.

Ben: No, and if he was living on his own, he probably is very self-sufficient. But Elena, we were going to take our time with this. Are you sure you want to go from zero to two kids, both with their own separate needs?

Elena: No? [she sighs as she flops backwards on the bed, resting her hands over her stomach] My heart says help him; my head says you may be sleep deprived and overly hormonal.

Ben: [lays down beside her] Maybe Poe and Finn want a kid? [smirks]

Elena: Do we want to trust them with an impressionable young child?

Ben: Finn, yes. Poe...

Elena: Yeah, that was my thought too. And on top of that it's a supernatural child, which ... has it's own set of pros and cons.

Ben: True. [thinks] Well, when Mom closes on her home, we'll have help to handle him.

Elena: Have we told her about Mystic Falls yet? Because if we take him, we definitely will.

Ben: Not in exact words.

Elena: Then we'll have to be exact. Because I don't want him to feel like he can't be himself. He's already going to have to do that with everyone else.

Ben: How long do we have until the next holiday?

Elena: Christmas. So a couple months?

Ben: Well, there'd be Thanksgiving and maybe Fall Break before that.

Elena: [she shakes her head] Fall break basically is Thanksgiving, and that's only really the weekend. The first time where he would have to be really living here for a good chunk of time is Christmas.

Ben: Well, it'll give me enough time to convert our guest room into a bedroom for him

Elena: [nods] And get Jonathan on a better sleep schedule. But it'll also be when I'm starting to go back to work.

Ben: Well, Mom was going to watch Johnny on days we both work matching shifts. I'm sure one quiet, scrawny teenager won't be too much more.

Elena: [she nods] So ... do you want to do this?

Ben: [sighs, then nods] Who do you think her plan B would have been?

Elena: Matt or Derek.

Ben: Well, if she was thinking of Derek, she should just keep him herself. [grins]

Elena: [she laughs] Unfortunately the twins don't share well.

Ben: I remember. Though if they don't finally admit it to each other, I'm going to lock them in a closet at the Ball.

Elena: [she laughs] They'll get there on their own.

Ben: You've been saying that for what, six years now?

Elena: Yes, I know, but they will. [it's complicated, and Elena can't really explain to him how Klaus is still a lingering thought in Caroline's mind. But until that's resolved ...] You're just going to have to trust me.

Ben: I trust you. But they are really bad at this. Like, really bad.

Elena: I'd rather he be bad at it then trying to seduce my best friend to the dark side. [She acknowledges Caroline's lingering thoughts. She does not approve of them though, she just gives her leeway because Caroline did the same for her and Damon]

Ben: If he was trying to do that, he's also way bad at that.

Elena: As far as I know, he's not.

Ben: ... Can I trap them under the mistletoe?

Elena: We'll revisit that at Christmas.

Ben: And if not, Poe can totally help me cheat at spin the bottle.

Elena: [pats his shoulder] You do that. [and she pushes herself up slowly] We should go talk to Baal at least, see how he's doing with all of this.

Ben: True. Hope he doesn't think we don't want him. [and he'll hop up and help her get up the rest of the way]

Elena: [and they'll head back into the living room, where Elena will greet them with a smile] How're we doing?

Baal: [has finished his milk and cookies. Though some of those cookies might be in his pockets for later] Your cookies are very good.

Elena: Thank you. We can get you some more, if you want?

Baal: [looks at Caroline. Is it proper to accept more?]

Caroline: [nods, go for it]

Baal: [grins] Yes, please!

Elena: Okay. I'll be right back. [and she'll take his plate to head to the kitchen for more cookies]

Ben: You're lucky, kiddo. Elena loves baking cookies for people.

Caroline: [squints because she doesn't believe that for a second. Elena is a terrible cook and a not much better baker. but sure. for now she'll let it go]

Ben: [fine, he makes the cookies and Elena supervises and decorates. Same thing]

Elena: [and eventually she returns, handing him the plate, before shifting so that she's sitting on the floor across from him] So Baal, Ben and I have talked about how this feels for us, but we wanted to check in with you too. I know that coming here has probably been a lot to adjust to.

Baal: [and he will take a cookie from the plate and nibble on it before answering] I do not know a lot on how to act in America. Most people in town did not like me because I stole food. I only took when I was really hungry.

Elena: [brow furrows] In town here or in town back home?

Baal: Back home. I have not been here long

Elena: [she nods] Well, thankfully the school is well stocked enough to deal with your supercharged supernatural metabolism. And we'll stock up here too, if you come to live with us.

Baal: I do not want to be burden. I can survive on my own.

Elena: [she shakes her head] Making sure you have enough food doesn't make you a burden.

Baal: Oh.

Ben: And really, we know you can survive, but you don't have to. People here take care of each other. If you want to stay with us, we take care of you, and you can help in whatever way you want.

Elena: The important thing is you wanting to. It's not like you're a baby, and you can't really make those choices on your own. You're smart enough and capable enough that if this place isn't what you're looking for, that's okay. But we'd like to have you, if you want to stay with us. And you can ask us anything you want to help you make that choice.

Baal: [he closes his eyes and his hand goes up to rub his necklace, trying to get a feel for what the gods think. When he gets a warm feeling, he nods and opens his eyes] I accept.

Elena: [smiles] Okay. We're looking forward to having you. [then she glances to Care] I know school's in session now, so would he be here Thanksgiving?

Caroline: We can work it out. And since you guys are local, if you want him to come by some weekends to get a feel for things, we can do that.

Ben: Hey, that means you can come help me pick out things for your bedroom.

Baal: I'll get a room?

Elena: Yep. And unlike school, this one you won't have to share.

Baal: [and his grin grew] I would like that very much.

Elena: [and that makes her smile too] Good. You can make yourself at home.

Baal: I think this will be a very nice home.

Elena: Good. We'll be very happy to have you. [and with that, she will push herself up to take Jonathan from Caroline] Let me know what good weekends would be for him to come around and I'll make sure that at least one of us is here.

Caroline: [nods] I will send you the school calendar when I get back to my office and we'll work it out.

Ben: I'll call my mom and see if she's got any of my old clothes. I can imagine that uniform isn't always comfortable.

Baal: I do not like shoes, or the tie. [looks apologetically at Caroline]

Caroline: The tie is optional, unfortunately the shoes not so much. He does like sandals though.

Elena: Unfortunately you're coming up on winter, so you can't wear flip flops all year round.

Baal: I can't?

Ben: It gets really cold and snows a lot.

Elena: And while you probably won't get sick the way we humans do, it's still not comfortable.

Baal: I have heard of snow, but never seen of it.

Elena: Then you're in for a treat come winter.

Baal: Okay.

Caroline: [smiles as she gets up] Thank you. Really. I think this will be really good for him.

Elena: Of course. We're happy to have him. Even if we're going to have to have a much more in depth talk about the supernatural with Lisa.

Caroline: Let me know if you need help. I have a power point presentation.

Ben: I may take you up on that.

Caroline: Good. But now I think it's time that I got Baal back to class. What do you think? [and she looks down at Baal]

Baal: Yes. I need to learn the maths.

Elena: Good luck. [and she will walk them both out with a smile] Caroline will let us know the next time you can come. We're looking forward to having you.

Ben: And if you need some space and want to escape from the other kids, Caroline can let us know as well.

Elena: Yep. I've driven up to the school many times. I know the way.

Baal: I can find my way here too. I know your scents now.

Elena: Just make sure that the teachers know you're coming so they don't freak out looking for you.

Baal: Yes, I will do so.

Elena: Good. We'll see you soon, then.

Baal: I look forward to seeing you soon.

Elena: [she nods and with that they will disappear behind the door and Caroline will take Baal back to school]