AN: The following conversation occurs between Stefan and Caroline after Stefan has discussed Caroline's pregnancy with both Lily and Damon (after 7x09).
Caroline rested herself back against the headboard of Stefan's bed, well Stefan's temporary bed, in one of the Lockwood mansion's many spare bedrooms. She was glad that it wasn't weird, no weirder than rest of her life at the moment. She touched her hand to her stomach as she felt a flutter. The twins' movements were getting more frequent, soon they would be kicking. She wouldn't be able to hide her bump for much longer which would lead to questions she really didn't know the answer to. How do you explain a forced, magical surrogacy to the human students of Whitmore?
She looked up to see Stefan in the doorway, holding a breakfast tray complete with a single bright pink daisy, a pensive expression on his face. She hastily pulled her hands away from her belly, feeling strangely guilty.
"I made breakfast." Stefan pointed out, somewhat unnecessarily, trying to break the tension. "As per your latest craving - pancakes, eggs and bacon, plus coffee and some B+."
"Yummy, I'm starving." Caroline smiled, a little tentatively. She set the tray on her lap and dug in, enjoying the fact that Stefan was a damn good cook. He slid onto the bed, snuggling next to her, sipping his coffee. She offered him a forkful of pancake which he ate looking into her eyes, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. She grinned back at him, the mood in the room considerably lighter.
Breakfast finished, Stefan placed the tray on the bedside table and mentally braced himself for the conservation the two of them needed to have. His hand had strayed to her hair and he caught himself nervously twisting her curls through his fingers. He took a deep breath.
"How's everything going?" He asked, his eyes sweeping downwards towards her stomach hoping she would catch his drift.
"Fine. I'm constantly hungry and tired, but okay." She looked into his eyes, hoping that she had said the right thing. He gave a small nod, so she continued. "I have been feeling movements, flutters. I wasn't sure at first, but it's definitely baby related."
"It's not too weird for you?" Stefan winced at his choice of words; for someone who was so good at getting things down on paper, he could be such a dolt when it came to the spoken language.
"Not too weird." Caroline replied, she was okay with weird, it really did cover all bases.
"And how are you feeling about the future?" Stefan queried.
"Well, the birth might not be all that fun, but at least my C-section scar will heal quickly." She joked, weakly.
"Caroline," Stefan fixed his serious vampire look on her. "What about after? Have you thought about where you might fit into their lives?"
"They're Ric's kids, Stefan. Nothing to do with me." She tried not to look at him.
Stefan's eyes narrowed, she was avoiding and it made him instantly suspicious, but he wanted to tread carefully. He tried to keep his next comment light hearted. "You remember Alaric, the borderline alcoholic, is my brother's best friend, right? I can't imagine what mischief they'll get into if Uncle Damon is left in charge." Stefan realised he sounded pissyier than he would have hoped.
"Ric's their dad, Stefan, of course he'll do right by them." Caroline tried to sound indignant, but her own unvoiced worries were too close to the surface. "Anyway, I'm a college student, I want to finish my course, go to parties and star in the summer production. I want to make out with my hot vampire boyfriend. I don't see how being a mom fits into that."
He put his hands up in surrender. "I understand that, Caroline, and while I'm particularly interested in the 'making out with your hot vampire boyfriend' part of your life plan, I would support you if you felt differently and wanted to be there for them. You wouldn't need to be their mom, but cool aunt Caroline has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" He gently took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb lightly over her knuckles.
Caroline smiled. "It does," she replied, looking down at their entwined hands, lost in thought.
"I know you never asked for this." He continued, "and honestly, I admire how well you're coping with the situation. I'm sorry if I've let my own issues cloud my judgement. You don't have to decide anything now; you've got a few more months."
"Well, twins do have a tendency to come early. Are you okay with all of this?" She queried.
Stefan hesitated; he could lie, tell her everything was okay, but he didn't want to. "Some days, I wish that it was you and I having these babies." Caroline looked up sharply at Stefan; he looked a little sheepish. "Yeah, I get it; we aren't really ready for that type of commitment, just yet." He grinned at her. "Hence why the other days, I just wish I had scooped you up and dragged you kicking and screaming away from that wedding."
"Maybe it's my punishment for my humanity-less murder spree?"
"Seems a little harsh." Stefan smiled. "Eighteen years of bringing up a couple of brats."
"Hey." She punched him lightly on the shoulder. "My children won't be brats!"
Stefan raised his eyebrows slightly in a questioning manner.
"Okay, okay. I get your not-so-subtle point, Mr Salvatore. I'll think about it." With that, Caroline decided that she had had enough talking and lent over, pulling Stefan into a deep kiss. She was going to take advantage of being at the horny stage of pregnancy and from the way, Stefan was kissing her back she was sure that he wasn't going to deny her, her latest craving.
On the run - Chapter 1
Ok, so the last few episodes of TVD aside, S7 has made the Steroline shipper in me is angry, very angry. I'm so pissed off with what we've got and rubbish we have had to endure - Valerie, Alaric, mystical pregnancies, Julian, JP and the great SL switch…. This season has felt like my own personal hellstone adventure so as catharsis, I'm going to write a fanfic about Steroline on the run and sort out some of JP'S damn plot holes. This fic might be a complete mess so I apologise in advance. Oh and I'm not American so although I'll try my best not to make any glaring cultural errors, please feel free to these point out if I do.