Fairy Godmother
Part III: On The Homefront
Prologue: Birthday Breakfast
The young girl awoke with a smile. She giggled, pushing her Winnie the Pooh comforter off her small body. She fixed her wrinkled jammies – a Lion King cotton nightgown. She scrambled off the bed and out of her blue and purple bedroom. She ran quietly but quickly down the hall. Once she got to the door she gently pushed it open.
She saw the brunette already awake in the bed, dressed in a sheer white nightgown, and continued in the room. The brunette smiled when she saw the girl and heped her up on the bed. "Well, good morning baby girl. You're up awfully early." The brunette picked up the bundle on the bed beside the girl, cradling the tiny sleeping human in her arms. Tiny fingers latched on to her long, shiny curls.
"Today is a special day," Gabrielle smiled. She reached over and gently stoked the baby's soft, downy hair.
"Yes it is, birthday girl." Katherine smiled. "You're getting so big."
"I've five now," Gabby held up five fingers. "How old is the baby?"
"Maria's very new," Katherine told her. "She's just three weeks old."
"Wow," Gabby said. "She's little."
"Yes, she is," Katherine nodded.
"Aunty Katherine?" Gabby asked.
"Yes, Gabrielle?" Katherine replied.
"Will you help me with something?" Gabby said.
"Of course," Katherine told her. "Anything you need."
"Really?" Gabby said. Katherine nodded. "I wanna make Mommy and Daddy breakfast."
"You have definitely come to the right person," Katherine smiled. She stood up, cradlingthe baby in her arms. "I happen to be an amazing cook."
"You are?" Katherine followed out of the room and down the stairs.
"Sshh," Katherine whispered. "Or you'll wake your mommy and daddy and Uncle Damon and cousin Maria."
Gabby nodded and they continued downstairs to the kitchen. Katherine kissed the top of Maria's head and gently set her down in the bassinet next to the island.
"What should we make for your mommy and daddy?" Katherine lifted the girl up and set her on the island counter.
"Pancakes!" Gabby smiled. Katherine nodded. "Aunty Katherine, can you cook as good as Uncle Damon?"
Katherine started gathering the ingredients for pancakes. "Who do you think taught him? Your Daddy, too."
"You did!" Gabby's eyes were wide.
"Yep," Katherine said. "It was a long, long time ago. Long before your mommy was even born. Uncle Damon was just a young, sweet soldier. And your daddy was just such a gentleman. I taught them all kinds of things. Damon was a very fast learner. And your daddy was a natural."
"Wow," Gabby watched her aunt mix all the ingredients together. "Can you teach me someday? Mommy's not very good."
Katherine chuckled, smiling. "I blame the Gilbert genes on that one. Petrova women happen to be very good cooks. Especially my mother."
"What do pants have to do with cooking?" Gabby as confused.
Katherine just smiled, shaking her head. She continued mixing everything together. Then she got a frying pan and a spatula. Gabrielle watched her with fascination. Katherine started cooking the batter.
Maria started cooing in her sleep and Gabby found her gaze on the infant. "Aunty Katherine?" Gabby said.
"Yes, sweetheart?" Katherine didn't look up from the sizzling batter.
"Where do babies come from?" Gabby asked.
Katherine looked up, turning around but still paying attention to the batter. "Um . . ." She stuttered. "That is actually . . . a question you should ask your mommy and daddy." She smirked, turning back to the pancakes. "Or better yet, your uncle Damon."
"Okay," Gabby shrugged.
Katherine sighed, relieved she'd dodged that bullet. She finished making the pancakes.
"Mmm . . . somethin' smells good,," Damon strolled into the kitchen, fully dressed in his usual color of black. The front door closed and Damon's 'overnight friend' left.
"You didn't even spring for breakfast?" Katherine smirked. "Some one night stand you are. And wasn't that another straight-haired brunette?"
"I learned from the best," Damon countered. Katherine just smiled.
"Aunty Katherine says she's a better cook than you, Uncle Damon," Gabby informed him.
Damon shot Katherine a look who returned it with an devious, innocent smile. "Is that so?" He stood next to Gabby, tickling her. Gabby erupted into a fit of giggles.
"Y-yeah!" Gabby continued giggling.
"I swear, Damon Salvatore, if you wake up Maria you will find yourself facedown in a pool of vervain." Katherine's voice was serious. "In the sun without your ring."
Damon glanced over at the baby Katherine had adopted and loved with a fierce mama-bear intensity, asleep in the bassinet. He stopped tickling Gabby and backed away from the counter.
"Fine, you win," Damon put up his hands in surrender. Gabby laughed at him.
Katherine nodded, victorious, and got out two regular sized plates and one tiny plate with Simba from The Lion King on it.
Damon got a glass out of the cupboard and went into the fridge, pulling out the jug of orange juice.
"Uncle Damon, show me your funny facce," Gabby giggl.d
Damon turned to look at the little girl, smirking. "Gabby. Sweetheart. I've told you this a thousand times. It's a vamp face . . . not a funny face." Gabby nodded. Damon took a drink of his juice.
"Damon!" Katherine's mouth dropped. "Seriously? Do Stefan and Elena know that you're corrupting their child?"
"What?" Damon shrugged, taking another drink. He set his glass down. "Kid's curious. What can I say? She must take after me." He morphed his face, fangs extending, eyes redding, and black veins surrounding his eyes. Gabby clapped, giggling. Then Damon morphed back, chuckling.
Katherine shook her head, putting the plates on the wooden trays and then scooping the pancakes on them. She picked up two coffee cups from the dishrack and put those on the tray too. Then she poured coffee in them.
She turned to Gabby who was laughing as Damon whispered something in her ear. "Gabs, what do you want to drink? Orange juice or milk?"
"Juice!" Gabby giggled.
"Okay," Katherine nodded and got a Lion King cup from the dishrack and poured orange juice in it. She put that on the tray too. "Okay . . . all done. Damon, will you watch Maria for a minute while I help Gabrielle take this upstairs?"
"Sure, why not," Damon shrugged. "I'll corrupt your kid too." He smirked.
Katherine sighed. She lifted Gabby and set her on the floor. She picked up the trays, balancing one in each hand, and followed Gabby upstairs. "Stay quiet." She told the girl, who nodded as she skipped down the hall.
When they got to the end of the hall, Gabby started to push open her parent's door but Katherine stepped in front of her. "Hang on, Gabs. Let me go in first." Katherine pushed her way in, relieved to find Stefan and Elena asleep and, thankfully, fully clothed. Katherine bent down and whispered something in the girl's ear. Gabby nodded, giggling quietly.
Katherine stood, watching with a smile as Gabby pounced on the bed. Stefan and Elena awoke with a start. Gabby giggled, scooting her way in between them. "Mommy, Daddy, guess what!"
Elena groaned, half-asleep, pulling her daughter in for a bear hug. "What's that, bumble bee?" Stefan hugged them both, pressing a kiss on the back of Gabby's head.
"'s my birthday," Gabby smiled proudly.
"Oh really? We didn't know that . . ." Elena pretended to feign surprise. Stefan chuckled, eyes still closed.
"Mommy!" Gabby whined, though she was laughing.
"I'm just kiddin'" Elena opened her eyes and smiled, kissing Gabby's forehead. Stefan, too, opened his eyes.
"Aunty Katherine helped me make breakfast," Gabrielle told them.
"She did?" Stefan and Elena looked over at Katherine who walked over with the trays. The two sat up, Gabby snuggling between them. Katherine set the trays carefully on the bed. "Well, that was very nice of her." Elena turned to her daughter. "Gabby, did you say thank you to your aunty Katherine?"
Gabby shrugged, shaking her head. Elena gave her a look. Gabby turned to look at her aunt. "Thank you, Aunty Katherine."
"You're very welcome, kiddo," Katherine chuckled. "Enjoy. Now I have to go make Maria's breakfast . . . and stop Damon from corrupting her . . ." The vampire ducked out of the room, leaving the three Salvatore's in the bed to eat their breakfast.
Elena pulled Gabby in her lap and the three dug into their yummy pancakes. As they ate, Elena asked. "So baby . . . who do you want to do for your birthday?"
"I wanna go home," Gabby spoke clearly between bites.
"Home?" Stefan took a drink of his coffee and gave his wife a look. She shrugged. "Honey, we are home. You know that." They'd moved a handful of times over the years, keeping suspicion low of what they really were. A couple of months earlier they'd settled in an out-of-the-way farmhouse in Ohio. It gave them the privacy they needed away from curious eyes.
"Home," Gabby nodded. "Mustic Falls."
Stefan and Elena chuckled. Elena took a bite, "You mean Mystic Falls?"
"Ya," Gabby nodded again, setting down her glass. "I wanna see Aunty Jenna and Uncle Ric and Uncle Jeremy and Godmumma Bonnie and my cousins!"
"Honey, you know why we can't live in Mystic Falls," Stefan sighed.
"I know . . ." Gabby lookd down, sad. "But . . . I wanna see my family."
"We know you do, sweetheart," Elena hugged her. "We do too. But do you remember what we told you about some people and how they don't understand things?" Gabby nodded. "Well there are people in Mystic Falls who don't understand how special you are. And they don't understand that your dad or I or your uncle Damon or your aunt Katherine wouldn't hurt anyone. They would want to hurt us."
"That's right," Stefan nodded. "And they would take you and Maria away and you would never see us again."
"I know," Gabby sighed. "But I miss them . . ."
Stefan and Elena looked at each other, both also sighing. Over the years since they left Mystic Falls, they'd only gone back a few times to visit. It was hard on all of them but they knew that if Carol Lockwood or Liz Forbes or the other Founding Familiess knew about them . . . it would be 1864 all over again.
But then again if they were careful and kept under the radar . . .
Stefan nodded and Elena nodded in response. Elena let out a breath, setting down her fork. Stefan took a drink of his coffee.
"Why don't you finish your breakfast and we'll talk about it later, okay?" Elena said.
Gabby took her last bite and drank the last of her juice. "All done."
"Okay," Stefan said. "Take your cup and plate and fork downstairs and have Damon or Katherine help you put it in the dishwasher."
Elena took a drink of her coffee and nodded. "Then you need your cup 'o blood for the day. One of them downstairs can help you while Daddy and I finish our breakfast."
Gabby nodded, crawling off the bed with her dishes. She started to run out of the room.
"Gabrielle," Elena called. The girl stopped, turning around in the entryway of the door. "Don't run with dishes in your hand, especially the fork." The girl nodded. "And give your aunt a hug and a kiss for helping you with breakfast."
"Okay, Mommy," Gabby walked out of the room. Elena stood up, her bare feet padding the floor. She smoothed out her boy shorts and Stefan's shirt as she closed the door. She crawled back on the bed, under the covers and under the tray.
Stefan leaned over to kiss her, "Good morning, babe. Love you."
"Mmm," Elena nodded, smiling, kissing him back. "Love you too." She took another bite.
Stefan watched her eat, smiling. "It was five years ago today I woke up and you were nowhere to be found." He reminisced. Elena chuckled, her mouth full. "You were just gone. I almost had a heart attack―would have too, the whole 'vampire' thing notwithstanding. I looked everywhere, all through the Boarding House." Elena giggled. "And where was my overdue pregnant wife?" Stefan shook his hed, taking a drink of coffee. "Sitting on the cold, dirty, basement floor. Listening to The Script of all things."
"I still love that song," Elena smiled, remembering that day. "Gabs does too, actually."
"And later . . ." Stefan kissed her again, his tone becoming somber. Both of them finished with their breakfast and Stefan set the trays on the floor next to the bed. He lay back, pulling her into his arms. She lay atop his chest on her stomach, resting her head on his shoulder. "I almost lost both of you that day."
Elena lifted her head, staring into his eyes. "But you didn't." She reminded him, kissing him.
"But I didn't," Stefan nodded.
"What a day that was," Elena chuckled, again resting her head on his shoulder. "I still remember the night before that, all that pain, having to drink Katherine's blood. I didn't think I was going to survive that."
"I didn't either," Stefan sighed.
"Thank god for Bonnie, though," Elena's voice was quiet. Stefan just nodded. They both very well knew where they'd be if it weren't for Bonnie.
He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Do you think we should?"
Elena sighed, burrowing her face in his neck. "I know she wants too. I want too." She let out a breath. "Zoe and my nephew are growing up so fast and we're missing it. And . . . Gabby's growing up too."
She is," Stefan held her, "Our little girl is growing up."
They both sat up and Elena glanced at the picture on her nightstand of the three of them when Gabrielle was just a month old. Elena had still been human then.
"We could probably go without any incident at all," Stefan said. "As long as we stay out of town and not let Liz or Carol see us,"
Elena nodded. "Stay at the Boarding House?"
"As far as the town knows, we left it to Bonnie and Jeremy when we left."
"And it's away from the town," Elena said. "How long can we stay?"
"Maybe a couple of days," Stefan told her. "Depends on what's going on in the town."
"I should try Caroline again. We haven't heard from her since Michael was born," Elena sighed. "Think she's ready?"
Stefan shrugged. "Honestly . . . I don't know. She still hasn't gotten over losing Tyler yet."
"I know," Elena sighed. "It's just . . . it's been nearly five years."
"She'll come around when she's ready," Stefan said.
"I guess . . ." Elena stood. "So . . . when do we want to make this little trip for?"
"How about tomorrow?" Stefan suggested. "We can spend today packing and leave early tomorrow morning. We should get there in about two to three days."
"Sounds good," Elena nodded. "I'll go break the news to the birthday girl."
Elena left the room, shouting down the hall as she walked. "Gabrielle . . . guess where we're going!"
In the distance, Gabby cheered, Maria started crying, Katherine growled, and Damon laughed. Elena heard Stefan laugh too and found her self chuckling as well.
"Damn it, Elena!"
Elena just laughed.
To Be Continued . . .
A.N. So . . . here's the first chapter of the third installment. I don't have much done but I have a pretty good idea. What do we think about the dysfunction Salvatore vampire family? Not sure when the next chapter will be up...hopefully not too long.