I got this idea from a few other pregnancy story ideas. Basically, the Petrova doppelganger line ends with Elena because she didn't have a baby before she turned. What if the universe knew that she would be turning, so the last time she has sex with Matt, she gets pregnant, to continue the line. This story is definitely a challenge.

I'm trying to stay as true to character as possible, but may stray a little bit if I need to for the story to make sense. The first few chapters will probably be super similar to the first few episodes. I've done lots of research for this stories and have taken lots of scenes directly from the episodes and from the transcripts of the show. All of this belongs to the writers of The Vampire Diaries. I've chosen to tell the story this way because I want it to be as close to the original plot line as possible, and as realistic and true to the story as possible.

This is also going to be a challenge because I'll have to develop Matt's relationship with Elena and his role as a father, while exploring her relationship with Stefan, even though I'm a hardcore Delena shipper. The way that I'm working the story now, it's going to be a very slow burning Delena story. Not necessarily 4 seasons slow burning, but still very slow.

Dear Diary, today will be hell. How could it be any different? Everyone will ask how I am, and everyone will give those judging looks. Their sympathy will be split. They won't know whether they should feel sorry for me because my parents died or because I'm pregnant. But when they look at me with their sad eyes, I will smile. My smile will say "I'm fine, thank you," "Yes, much better," "I love being pregnant at seventeen. Getting knocked up was the best decision I've ever made." And it will be believable. This year I have to start fresh, show them that I'm alive and well. And if I can convince them, then maybe, just maybe, I can believe it myself.

In the kitchen, Aunt Jenna is studying the contents of the refrigerator. They haven't really changed since she last checked, three minutes ago.

"Toast. I can make toast," she says, glancing over her shoulder at Elena, who just walked in.

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna," Elena replies, her voice disinterested.

"Is there real coffee? Or is it just that decaf crap?" Elena's brother Jeremy asks as he enters the kitchen.

"Just the crap. If I didn't remove it from the house she would drink it and it's not good for the baby," Jenna's reply causes both kids to roll their eyes. Neither of them are on board with the 'coffee isn't good for baby' idea. Mostly just because it meant less caffeine for them and it's hard to deal with pity looks when you're low on caffeine. "Lunch money?" she asks, extending a ten dollar bill towards the two of them. Jeremy snatches it up quickly. Elena opts to make her own lunch. On occasion, gross looking food will still strike up nausea. Gross-looking is about the only kind of food that Mystic Falls High School cafeteria serves. "Anything else? A No. 2 pencil? What am I missing?"

"Don't you have a big presentation today?" Elena asks, slightly confused. Jenna has been preparing for this for two weeks but now she seems more concerned with sending them off to school than getting herself there.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at-" she glances down at her wrist, pulling up her sweatshirt sleeve to reveal her watch, "-now. Crap."

"Then go. We'll be fine," Elena says. It doesn't look convincing, so Jenna sends her back a sad, understanding smile. Jenna and Elena are in very similar boats, after all. They both lost family and then found themselves having to raise children. They spent all summer bonding over it. They mourned together and worried over the future together. After Jenna ran quickly out of the kitchen, Elena turned to Jeremy. "You okay?" she asked, her voice dripping with genuine concern, which Jeremy either misinterpreted or was uninterested in.

"Don't start," he sighed as he sipped the decaf coffee and exited the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Bonnie's little blue Prius pulled up to the curb in front of the house. Bonnie lived about two blocks over so they arranged a carpool to class. Elena kind of loved it because she didn't like being alone since the accident. As they drove through the busiest part of the small town, Bonnie chattered away. Elena was grateful for Bonnie's current level of optimism.

"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors are from Salem- witches and all that. I know, crazy. But she's going on and on about it and I'm like 'put this woman in a home already!' But then, I started thinking. I predicted Obama. And I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands. Elena! Back in the car!" Elena had drifted off to gaze out the car window at some point during Bonnie's monologue. She jumped at the sound of her name, giving her best friend her full attention.

"I did it again, didn't I?" she asked, referring to her inability to pull herself out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that…"

"That I'm psychic now." Bonnie nods, laughing at herself.

"Alright then, predict something. About me."

"I see…" Bonnie thinks for a second, but before she has time to answer, something black hits the car windshield, causing her to spin out of control for a moment before slamming on the brakes. No one was injured, but Elena is taking deep breaths, nearly gasping for air. She's almost frozen in shock and her hand instinctively flies to her belly where the smallest of bumps was hidden under a flowy tank top and leather jacket.

"Oh my God! What was that? Elena, are you okay?" Bonnie's face is about 80 shades of concerned.

"It's okay. I'm fine," she replies, her voice laced with shock.

"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere,"

"Really, I- I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life," Elena stuttered before regaining her composure. Nothing happened. They skidded to a quick stop, but both she and the baby were fine. Nothing to worry about. Elena shakes it off, determined not to let it ruin her day. Bonnie appreciates this gesture and straightens up.

"I predict this year is going to be kick ass. I predict all the sad and dark times are over, and you are going to be beyond happy. Your baby is a little miracle, and she's going to bring you more joy than you can imagine." The two girls smiled at each other, both hoping the prediction would prove true.

"She?" Elena asks.

"Oh yeah. It's definitely a girl," Bonnie replies instantly as she pulls the car back onto the road to continue their drive to school.

Elena followed Bonnie to her locker. It was the same one she'd had for the past two years. Normally that didn't happen, but when she got lucky with prime locker real estate freshman year she made sure to lock it down for the rest of her high school career. They chatted as Bonnie opened her locker, but she spotted something over Elena's shoulder that made her pale. Elena quickly turned around and saw her ex-boyfriend and baby daddy walking their way.

Matt Donovan is a good guy. Really, he is. He's the nice, boy-next-door type who plays football and holds doors open for girls. He also believes that since Elena is pregnant, the two of them should get married; which is super awkward considering Elena dumped him six weeks before she found out. Matt's trying to do the right thing, but being in a passion-less teenage marriage isn't Elena's idea of the right thing for their baby.

"Hey. How are you feeling today?" He asks, trying to remove Elena's school bag from her shoulder.

"It's okay, Matt. I've got it," she stops him, holding the bag firmly. In his efforts to get her back he's begun to make her feel more and more uncomfortable. He gazes at her stomach, her flowing tank top hiding any trace of a baby underneath. At sixteen weeks pregnant, her bump was much smaller than many others at the same stage of pregnancy. Her doctor assured her that it was nothing to worry about and that it was probably due to the stress of her parents' death; which was the reason she didn't even think to take a pregnancy test until she was already nine weeks pregnant.

Matt gave her an irritated look, fed up with her constantly shooting him down, and disappeared down the hall.

"He hates me," Elena sighed, turning back to Bonnie.

"That's not hate. That's 'you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but I'm secretly up late at night reading parenting books,'" Bonnie replied, sympathy covering her features.

"I know. I just can't bring myself to get back together with him just because I'm pregnant. I don't think that's the right thing to do. All three of us deserve better than that," she sighed again. Her optimism for the day was slowly dwindling.

"Elena, oh my God! How are you?" Caroline Forbes threw her arms around Elena's neck, enveloping her in a hug. Elena hadn't seen Caroline much since Aunt Jenna became her legal guardian. After her parents had died, she and Jeremy had stayed with Caroline and her mother, the sheriff, for about a month. "Oh it's so good to see you. How is she? Is she good?" she asked, turning to Bonnie, expecting that Elena wouldn't give her a truthful account.

"Caroline, I'm right here," Elena replied, pulling the blonde's attention back on her. "And I'm fine. Thank you."

"Really?" Caroline asked, sounding doubtful at best. She glanced down towards Elena's stomach, earning a small eye roll.

"Yes. Much better." Caroline pulled her into another hug, this time making sure not to squeeze her too tight around her middle.

"Oh you poor thing," she mumbled into Elena's hair.

"Okay, Caroline," Elena patted her back, waiting for the hug to be over. She wasn't a big fan of being forced into hugs.

"Okay, see you guys later?" Caroline eyed each of them as she pulled her self away from Elena. After they both gave her a nod, she left for first period.

Once she was out of ear shot, Elena turned to Bonnie with a fake smile and said "No comment. I'm not gonna say anything." Caroline was demanding, controlling, and at times insensitive, but she and Elena had been friends since birth. She was there, pee stick in hand, when it was time to find out if Elena's period was late because her parents' accident had stressed her out or because she and Matt had an accident of their own. Of course, looking back, that wasn't the best idea. She had Caroline to thank for the news being spread around like wildfire. If she'd had it her way, the whole town would still have no idea.

On the way to her first class, Elena and Bonnie stop to stare at the new kid's back as he speaks with a school administrator. As they wait for him to turn around so that they can catch a glimpse at his face, Elena sees Jeremy enter the restroom and she follows after him. She walks in to find him blinking in some eye drops. She grabs his chin and looks into his reefer red eyes. He reeks of pot. "Great. It's the first day of school and you're stoned."

"No I'm not," he scoffs.

"Where is it? Is it on you?" She accuses, reaching into the pockets of his hoodie. Jeremy grabs at her hands to stop her.

"Stop, alright! You need to chill yourself."

"Chill myself? What is that, stoner talk? Dude, you are so cool," she replies, sarcastically, as she continues trying to search him for his stash.

"Stop! I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?" Jeremy insists.

"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy. I gave you a summer pass, but I am done watching you destroy yourself," Jeremy lunges up, trying to break past her, but she stops him with a hand on his chest. "No, no, no. You know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time. Got it?" He glares at her, trying to seem unaffected. It doesn't work with the glare. Both of their faces soften slightly as a guy exits one of the stalls and leaves the bathroom. They almost forgot they were in the men's room. "Jeremy, I know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person." Her eyes stared into is, almost begging him to go back to being her sweet little brother. He'd become obnoxious over the last two years or so, but it was amplified by the death of their parents; especially with all of the attention on Elena because she's pregnant.

"I don't need this. Just because you're that thing's mom now, it doesn't make you mine." She's so shocked by this outburst that she lets him walk past her and exit the bathroom. She can feel the sting of tears behind her eyes. She blinks them back, and her eyes are wet, but she knows the tears won't fall. Crying won't help with her 'I'm fine. Thank you' image that she's going for today. After taking a second to breathe, she exits the restroom.

She barely makes it out the door before her shoulder hits something solid. It was a guy- the new guy. And she can't believe how beautiful he is. He's gloriously, amazingly, epic-ly beautiful. His look is classic and timeless. He looks like there should be an oil painting of him selling for millions of dollars somewhere, not like he should be walking into the Mystic Falls High School restroom. His jaw looks like it could be insured. She suddenly feels sorry for the people who will go their whole lives without ever seeing his face. "Uh, pardon me," he says, and she slowly realizes she's been staring. "Um, is this the… men's room?" he asks, glancing at the sign on the door, and then back at her. Elena's jaw drops in embarrassment.

"Yes. I, I was just um… I was just… it's a long story," she sighed, trying to stop the blush creeping along her cheeks. The new guy gave her a small smile and went to step around her the same time she went to step around him, effectively blocking each other's paths. They stepped again. The guy gave her a smile before stepping against the wall, extending his hand in an 'after you' kind of motion. Elena thought about that awkward encounter the whole way to her first class; History with Coach Tanner. She was surprised to see the new guy walk in minutes later. He must be a junior too.

Coach Tanner jumped straight into the lecture and Elena could feel Matt's gaze on the back of her head as she struggled to pay attention and take notes on the Civil War. She glanced over her shoulder and caught the new guy looking at her. She could feel her phone vibrate in her bag against her leg and she opened the text message from Bonnie.

Hawt-e. Staring u.

Bonnie's old flip phone made spelling out actual words a tedious and obnoxious chore, so she stuck to text speak. Elena kind of hated it, but this text made her smile to herself. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.

At the end of the school day, Elena made her way back to each of her teachers to make sure they knew about her situation. Of course, they'd all heard the rumors. She informed them of her Valentine's due date and made plans with each of them for finishing out her junior year on time so that she could be on a path to graduating with all of her friends. Some teachers were understanding and showed sympathy for her situation and promised to help her keep her schooling in check. Others, like Coach Tanner, informed her that she would still be held accountable for keeping up with classwork on her own.

After she left the school, Elena headed straight to the cemetery.

Dear Diary, I made it through the day. I must've said "I'm fine, thanks" at least 37 times, and I didn't mean it once. But no one noticed. When someone asks "How are you?" they really don't want an answer.

Elena looks up from her diary to see a crow perched on top of her parents' tombstone. "Okay. Hi, bird." She called out to it as it crowed. The bird is still; it's watching her. Almost as if it knows her. "Not creepy or anything," she mutters, continuing her writing. Fog starts to wind its way around the cemetery, which is weird because it's a beautiful, warm day. She slams down her diary and shoos the crow from the tombstone. "That's what I thought," she says as it flies away. She jumps when she turns back around and sees it sitting on the tombstone she'd been leaning against. She grabs her school bag in a hurry and backs away from the ominous bird.

Through the fog, she sees the outline of a man standing behind a large stone angel. She runs into the woods behind the cemetery, everything about the scene giving her the creeps. As she nears the bottom of the hill, she trips, landing on her leg. When she stands up she runs into the new guy again. From Caroline, she learned that his name is Stefan and he lived in Mystic Falls when he was younger.

"You okay?" he asks, looking at her with genuine concern. She's relieved to hear that question coming from someone who doesn't even know about her parents. She's still on edge, though. She nods to him.

"Were you following me?" she asks.

"No, I just saw you fall," he insists.

"Uh huh, and you just happened to be hanging out in a cemetery," she sighs, still shaken up by the crow, the fog, and the man.

"I'm visiting. I have, uh, family here," he replies. Elena's eyes go wide as she realizes how rude she was.

"Oh. Wow. Tactless. I'm sorry. I'm not thinking clearly, it's the fog, made me foggy and there was this bird and it was all very Hitchcock there for a second - it was Hitchcock, the bird movie, right? Hitchcock…" she trailed off noticing his slight smile. She was definitely rambling. "I'm Elena."

"I'm Stefan."

"I know. We have history together," she smiled.

"And English and French," he added. So he definitely remembered her. She couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.

"Right," she nodded and he picked a leaf from her leather jacket. "Thanks." He smiled to her and they had a sort of moment. Elena wasn't sure whether it was an awkward moment or a moment moment, but she took the time to look him over. The hand that had pulled the leaf from her jacket was adorned with a large silver ring with a big blue stone. "Nice ring," she said dryly. It was ostentatious to say the least.

"Oh, uh, it's a family ring. Kind of stuck with it. Weird, huh?" he replied, as if he wanted her not to notice the ring.

"No, it's just, I mean, there are rings and then there's that," she laughed as he twisted it around his finger. Stefan smiled at her before furrowing his eyebrows and looking at her leg.

"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh uh, I don't know," Elena replied, walking to a nearby tree stump to inspect her leg. When she pulled up her jeans she saw her bloody shin. "Oh, wow. Would ya look at that. That is not pretty," she sighed, noticing that Stefan turned away at the sight of the blood. So maybe he's a squeamish guy? He definitely didn't look it, though. "You okay?" She looked up and Stefan was nowhere to be found. She caught herself wondering if he would be able to handle having a kid around. She quickly scolded herself for even thinking of it. No one wants to date a pregnant seventeen-year-old. No one their age wants to play step-daddy. He didn't even know she's pregnant.

After the fiasco at the cemetery, Elena went straight home. She had Jenna fill out a few slips to hand back to her teachers, and she cleaned and bandaged the cut on her leg.

"Maybe blood makes him squeamish?" Jenna asked.

"This guy is not the squeamish type. This guy has 'danger' tattooed somewhere on his body," Elena replied dryly. Jenna laughed and checked her watch.

"Aren't you meeting Bonnie?" she asked.

"I'm gonna stay in. I'll call her."

"You should go. Don't sit home. Keep it up. You're doing good," Jenna replied. Elena appreciates it and decides she'll go to The Grill after all.

She traded out her school outfit for a black spaghetti strap shirt that flowed around her belly. She wore high- waisted jeans underneath to cover up her mid-section which really just looked more like she was a little bloated. While she changed her clothes she noticed that her boobs were nearly spilling out of her bra. She'd have to go shopping for new ones soon. Pants too, she decided, as she felt a little squeezed into the size twos.

"Alright, I'm leaving" she told Jenna as she headed for the front door, carrying a light jacket.

"Okay, have fun. Wait!" Jenna stopped her. "I got this. Don't stay out late. It's a school night." The way she delivered the line, it almost sounded rehearsed. Elena couldn't help the giggle that followed.

"Well done, Aunt Jenna," she praised, shaking her head as she opened the front door. She was surprised to see Stefan standing there and she let out a startled "Oh."

"Sorry, I was just about to knock. I wanted to apologize for my disappearing act earlier. I know it was… strange."

"No worries. I get it; blood makes you squeamish."

"Something like that," he responded with a small laugh. "How's your leg?"

"Oh, it's fine. Just a scratch, barely. How did you know where I lived?" she finally thought to ask. It was a little weird, running into him for the third time that day.

"It's a small town. I asked the first person I saw," she nodded, but didn't quite believe that. She couldn't help but feel that he had gone searching for her specifically. The thought made her smile. "Um, I thought you might want this back," he said, pulling out her green, leather diary and handing it to her.

"Oh, I must've dropped it. Thank you."

"Don't worry. I didn't read it," he said. From the look on his face, she could tell he was being sincere.

"No? Why not? Most people would've," she laughed. If he had read it, he would know she was pregnant. She got the distinct vibe that he didn't know.

"Well I wouldn't want anyone to read mine."

"You keep a journal?"

"Yeah. If I don't write it down I forget it. Memories are too important." They stared into each other's' eyes for a beat. She was totally entranced by him; this gorgeous stranger who kept a journal. Suddenly, something in the air between them shifted. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked confused. He glanced down at her belly, where her baby sat, invisible. The wheels in his head were turning, and the lightbulb flipped on. She felt like he could see straight through her stomach. She wasn't sure how he knew. She hadn't done anything in that moment to reveal it to him, but she could tell that he was suddenly aware of her pregnancy. Elena pretended not to notice.

"I'm just gonna um… you don't have to stay out there," she trailed off, walking back inside and leaving the door open for him.

She put the journal in her school bag in the kitchen and heard him call out "I'm fine," from the doorway.

She walks back to the doorway, holding her purse. "I'm sorry, were you going somewhere?" Stefan asks.

"Yeah, I'm meeting a friend," she pauses, trying to decide whether she should invite him or not. He hasn't called her out for being pregnant yet, so she decides it couldn't hurt. "Do you wanna come?" she asks, expecting him to turn her down. To her surprise, he takes her up on the offer.

"Yeah, sure. Where are you meeting?" he asks.

"The Mystic Grill. It's pretty much the only place in town, but it's not bad," she smiles. "Wanna ride with me?" she asks, pulling out the keys to her SUV. He nods and gets in the passenger's seat. On the drive there they make small talk. She avoids mentioning her parents and her baby. That's not exactly the kind of thing you should bring up the first time you meet someone.

When they get to The Grill, Elena sees Matt and stops cold. He's headed straight for her and Stefan, clearly upset.

"Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you," he says firmly, extending his hand to Stefan.

"Hi. Stefan," he replies. The way he appraises Matt, Elena's sure that he knows they had a thing. If he was able to discover she was pregnant just from a look, it wouldn't be hard for him to decipher that Matt was the father.

Matt turned his gaze to Elena. "Hey," she said.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" he asked. She told him she was fine and he walked out, clearly upset with her for being with somebody else.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline grilled him. She sat across from him with Bonnie to her left and Elena to her right.

"Mhmm, and I moved when I was still young," he replied, answering their questions with grace, almost as if he was expecting the interview.

"Parents?" Bonnie asked, and Elena couldn't help but feel bad that her friends were in his business.

"My parents passed away," the way he said it with such ease nearly knocked the breath out of Elena. The way he said it made her believe that the sun could shine again; that one day her life would go on. He glanced at her and Bonnie and Caroline looked between the two of them. Elena got the feeling that her having this connection to Stefan bothered Caroline.

"I'm sorry," she said staring into his eyes. Suddenly she understood everyone who asked her how she was feeling today. "Any siblings?" she asked, thinking of her own brother.

"None that I talk to," he said with a sense of finality. "I live with my uncle." She could tell that he was changing the subject.

"So Stefan, if you're new then you don't know about the party tomorrow," Caroline said, bringing all eyes back to her.

"It's a back to school thing at The Falls," Bonnie clarified.

"Are you going," he asks Elena.

Bonnie replies for her instantly. "Of course she is." Elena smiles first at Stefan and then at Bonnie.

"Yeah, I guess I'll be there."

AN: I'm doing some reformatting- Making some chapters longer by combining them. Let me know what you think of the longer chapters!