Chapter 23 ━━ I Never Could Love Like That

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Next day, at Whitmore Medical Center, Jo is skimming a chart as she walks out of a patient's room, but is stopped by a man in a police uniform.

"Dr Loughlin?"

"Yes?" Jo asks confusedly.

"I'm Officer Baker. Is there somewhere private we can speak?" The officer asks.

"...Sure." Jo says and the two walk into an empty hospital room nearby and Jo looks at the officer in concern.

"What's this about?" 

"I'm here regarding Professor Saltzman. I understand you two are engaged to be married?" The officer asks.

"Is something wrong?" Jo questions, looking concerned.

Officer Baker reaches for his nightstick on his belt and takes it out as he hits a button on it that makes it light up, before setting it on a patient table. "Nope!"

Jo looks confused and watches as officer Baker starts to smile.

"Everything is just right."

Suddenly, 'Ladies Night' starts to play, and officer Baker rips open his shirt and starts to gyrate his hips, revealing that he's not a police officer, he's a stripper.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wow!" Jo looks alarmed. Baker strips down to his red speedo and continues to dance provocatively.

Bonnie, Elena and Lorna burst into the room and scream. "SURPRISE!"

"Oh! Oh, my God. No. I don't think so!" Jo watches them and starts to laugh. "No, no, no, this can't be happening."

Elena, Bonnie and Lorna start dancing around with the stripper, who looks very amused, while they throw confetti everywhere. 

They then sit Jo down on a chair and put a 'Bachelorette' tiara on her and throw strings of Mardi Gras beads around her neck. 

After a moment, Jo starts to get into it and dances in her seat while the stripper gives her a lap dance.

Elena yells. "Happy bachelorette!"

Bonnie and Lorna chime in. "Happy bachelorette!"

They have moved to the nearby diner, which is completely empty aside from them. They're laughing and chattering together, while they eat huge hamburgers and french fries.

Jo seems very thrilled to have this small get-together for her bachelorette party. "An entire diner to ourselves? Actual heaven."

"If Caroline were here, we would be planning a spa day." Lorna tells.

"But now, she's MIA." Bonnie points out.

"She's with her mom." Elena adds.

"Understandable, considering..." Jo trails off.

"So, I figured we'd just stuff our faces." Elena says.

Jo sighs in pleasure, eating her burger. "You're geniuses."

Bonnie giggles. "Except... aren't you a vegetarian?"

Lorna laughs. "Bonnie, don't ruin it!"

"I'm just saying, that's not exactly a Garden burger!" Bonnie says.

"The baby is not okay with the no-meat thing. Besides, it's my party, and I'll eat what I want to!" Jo takes a big gulp of her milkshake. "I do wish this was vodka, though."

"Right?" Elena speaks.

"Hey, I don't want to know what Ric's doing, do I?" Jo asks.

"Probably at the... movies..." Bonnie trails off awkwardly.

"Yeah, or mini-golf..." Elena says.

"...or playing pool." Lorna adds. Bonnie, Elena and the blonde start giggling hysterically, knowing that Jo isn't going to believe their lies.

Jo looks skeptically. "Uh-huh." She sets down her milkshake. "I need ketchup!" Jo gets up to get her ketchup.

Lorna's phone beeps, making her check the new message. She smiles as she sees that it's a message from her devil.

I felt bored without you. Hope I didn't interrupt you.

-KP

I guess you did. In the middle of a lap dance with two cute strippers. Wanna join?
-LE

She waits for him to send a reply, but she gives up as she realises that he isn't going to reply any soon. He must be mad at her or something. 

"So, wassup with you and your sociopathic boyfriend?" Bonnie speaks up, dragging a conversation. 

"We're good." Lorna shrugs.

"That's great." Bonnie fake beams. She hates Kai. And the blonde knows where she's trying to lead this conversation. "I have to buy new tissue bulk and store them at my house."

"Why?" Lorna asks her.

"Just in case your boyfriend shutter your sky-height-hopes any soon." Bonnie answers.

"Bonnie." Elena nudges her with her elbow trying to shut her up.

Jo returns with several cups of ketchup in her hand and looks concerned. "You guys aren't full, are you?"

The trio smile sheepishly.

Bonnie is now dancing around the diner, while Elena chooses music on the jukebox. Jo, who is still eating ice cream, is grilling Lorna about Kai.

"Is he treating you nice?" 

"He is." She nods.

"That's good." Jo says and looks like she suddenly remembers something. She looks in her bag, trying to find something.

"Shall we drop the whole Kai Parker subject and talk about something else?" Lorna asks her.

"Trust me, I would much rather talk about my brother than the fact that I have yet to find a non-hideous wedding gown. Or, that I can't ask my sister to be my maid of honour because she won't return my phone calls. Or, the fact that I cannot stop eating-literally, like ever." Jo says and continues to search in her bag. "I remember you asking me about his childhood. I got a picture of him for you." She pulls out a picture of Kai and herself in their small age and hands it to the blonde. "I think we were 5 or something at this time."

Lorna smiles as she looks at the small Kai with amusement. She can imagine Kai and her with mini Kais'.

Wait. When did she start looking forward to kids? She's both a vampire and witch which makes her a hybrid and vampires can't reproduce. And Kai is still a human with witchy powers. Will he ever want a future with kids and a marriage? Will he dump her, because she can't give him that future? She doesn't notice herself crying until she hears Jo's voice.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

She shakes her head and wipes her tears. "Nothing."

"She must finally realise that Kai's gonna jump into his sociopathic self and dump her to rot." Bonnie butts in. 

"Bonnie." Jo and Elena glare at her.

"What?! Someone had to say it-" Bonnie shrugs. "-that she's going to end up heartbroken anyway."

"That's ridiculous." Jo says and turns to the blonde. "Tell me the reason why you suddenly switched into your sad mode?"

"It's about Kai." Lorna says.

"There-" Bonnie starts but stops as she sees Elena's glare.

"I'm feeling jealous about you and Alaric. I think you two are the best couple I'd ever seen." The blonde says honestly.

"Aww...don't worry. Kai will ask you soon. He must be waiting for the right time." Jo assures her, making Bonnie roll her eyes dramatically.

"I'm talking about kids, Jo. I can't give that to him." She sobs into her hands. "I'm scared that he'll leave me because of that."

"Wow. She was dreaming about sociopathic children. That's something new." Bonnie says rudely.

"Deep down, you know who you are and what you want. Love's always gonna require a huge leap of faith. A big, scary leap over a hot pit of lava." Jo explains and pulls her into a hug. "If he truly loves you, he'll never do that."

"I hope so." Lorna says, wiping her tears again as they pull apart. "How is your kiddo?"

"Healthy as always." Jo says happily, rubbing her belly.

"Let's play doctor and patient." Lorna says, making Jo giggle. "I'm gonna do a vampire check up on the baby."

"Okay. Okay. Do whatever you want." Jo says.

Lorna smiles and stops right in her tracks and focuses on her hearing. Her smile fades as she catches the sound of two distinct fetal heartbeats. It can't be. She looks at Elena who confirms with a nod.

"What's wrong?" Jo asks, worriedly looking between the blonde and Elena.

Lorna whispers. "Twins."

Jo looks stunned. "What?"

Lorna tries to repeat her words, but Jo stops her.

"No, no. Don't. Don't say that again. I heard what you said. Twins. Which means I'm going to be number one on Kai's 'Most Wanted' list." She panics. "And even if I escape from him, my family's gonna try and take them from me and Ric. A new Gemini twin Merge is the only thing that can strip Kai of his power."

"Don't let either of them find out." Elena says.

"How is that possible?" Jo asks.

"After the wedding, you guys go somewhere where no one can find you." Lorna suggests. 

"Bad news, ladies. The party is over." Kai appears from the doorway, sending everyone alarmed. 

"Wait." Kai looks around the girls with an unreadable expression and his eyes land on Lorna. "Where are the strippers?" 

"Huh?" 

"The strippers you texted me about including you having fun with two of them." He explains.

"So you came to look for the strippers?" Lorna asks him. 

"Yeah?" He shrugs. 

"Did you hear what we talked about?" Elena asks.

"No? Why?" He asks confusedly. 

Lorna sighs in relief. "Nothing. Girls talk."

"Ooo..." He trails off. "It is over now?"

"Why do you wanna join?" Bonnie asks, glaring at him. 

"No." He says, walking to his blonde. "Just wanna hijack my princess." 

Before Lorna even says anything, he tosses her over his shoulder and jogs out of the diner as she pounds her fists against his back.

"Kai, what the hell?!" She yells, but he ignores her and keeps walking away. 

"Kai, put me down. I can walk!" She yells, making him laugh and finally place on her feet. She places her hands on her hips.

"Damn, if you do that again, I swear you that I'm gonna-" She stops as her mind is filled with all the dirty things she can do with him.

"Gonna what?" He smirks knowingly.

"Gonna nothing." She says nervously. "So...what makes you want to kidnap me?" 

"I want to show you something." He shrugs

"Okay?" 

"Come with me." He grabs her hand on his own and starts to walk, making her follow him.

"Where are we going?" I ask him.

"It's a surprise, princess." He says and They finally arrive home after a hell of a walk. 

"Here we go." Kai says, showing her house.

"Home?" She questions. "You made me walk home just because you wanted to show me the house I live in?"

He gives her a look. "Open the door and see inside." 

As he says, she opens the door and walk-in.

"Living room." Kai says, while she curiously follows his directions. As she steps into the living room, it starts to snow. Wait! Did she say, snow? Yes, it did.

She runs to the window to see it's only snowing inside the living room. She looks back at Kai surprisedly. 

"Perks of being a witch." He grins.

Lorna swirls around in the magical snow, happily. She loves winter because of the snow. And now her living room is snowing because of her boyfriend's magical abilities. She looks back at Kai who is now catching snowflakes on his tongue. 

"You're a child, Kai." She shakes her head before running into his arms. "I love your surprise." 

He wraps his arms around her, kissing her forehead. "Glad you like it. But the surprise isn't over yet." 

She looks at him confusedly. 

"Look behind you." He says, making her turn only to see a table which wasn't visible before covered with red rose petals and lit white candles. A jewellery box is mounted in the centre of the table. 

Lorna takes off her jacket and drops it on the floor as she walks to the table. She pauses and gasps. She looks back at Kai who nods at her. She picks up the box with a shaky hand and opens it, truly surprised to see what is inside. She gasps with surprise and excitement when she sees the diamond ring is in the box. 

Kai walks to her and smiles. "I love you... and I will love you until I take my last breath on this life. Until then, will you marry me and be mine?" 

"I can't believe this. Are you sure?" She asks him and he nods in confirmation.

"Vampires can't procreate which means you won't be able to have kids because of me. I don't want to ruin your future, Kai." She begins to tear up. "You have to think about this again."

He caresses her face and wipes her tears. "Hey, look at me. I don't want kids. I want you to be with me. I don't care about anything other than you." 

She hugs him tightly. "I love you, Kai." 

"Don't fall in love with a dead man." He whispers into her ear.

She pulls apart to look at him. "Too late." 

He smiles and waits for her to give her the answer to his proposal. 

"Yes, Kai. I would spend my life with you."

His smile widens before he takes the ring and slides it slowly into her finger and looks into her eyes. "You can't even imagine how happy I am right now." He leans in and kisses her lips. Shd hungrily kisses him back as she wraps her arms around his neck. 

Unlike the moment she had with Stefan back in her past when he proposed to her, she feels so energetic and happy. She feels that she belongs with the right person and the sparks, fireworks she missed are all included in this kiss. 

She plays with the hem of his shirt making him pull apart for a second and take his shirt off and throw across the room and kiss her again, this time roughly.

She smirks knowing what's going to happen next and she's always ready for him because he's hers.