"Damon!" Stefan shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you, you know Elena isn't used to you being around especially with your past and yet you still continue to make her feel uncomfortable?"
"What am I going to do with you?" Stefan said agitated. Damon couldn't help but smirk while watching his brother pace back and forth arguing with himself. To be honest it was freaking hilarious, not that Damon would say anything. Stefan kept going off until Damon finally decided to put his brother out of his misery.
"Oh come on Stef, Elena loves having me around." Damon chimed in just before Stefan was about to start ranting again. "No Damon she really doesn't…she's scared of you and especially after when happened in the past I don't blame her for being a little worried." Stefan calmly stated.
"Stefan that is not what happened and you know it. I didn't do most of the stuff that they put me away for." Damon said defensively.
"I know, but you still had a part in it and that's why she is uncomfortable around you." Stefan countered. "Please just try to get along with her without upsetting her, she has a lot going on with the girls, without you having to add to her stress."
"Fine I'll go apologize."
"No Damon, just let her cool down, she was really upset that you said that and to be honest I'm not too happy about it either, but you're my brother and I need you to be here when I can't be." Stefan said just barely above a whisper.
"I know," Damon sighed.
"I'll be here for you, because growing up you were the only one there for me." Damon said.
"And you gave me a room with a great view of your wife while she does her morning yoga." Damon snickered returning to his original humor.
"Shut it Damon." Stefan growled. Then Damon mock punched Stefan, before Stefan could hit back he had him in a head lock and gave him a noogie. Then Elena and the girls walked in. Elena was wearing denim skinny jeans, a beige cardigan that was in contrast to her olive complexion, and long chestnut boots that had a two buckles wrapping around the middle; the girls were wearing jeans and small jackets Miranda's was lavender and Lexi's was sky blue. As soon as Damon saw Elena he looked her over with his eyes before stopping at her chest where her cleavage was showing just a little, but not enough to be considered trashy.
"What's going on here?" Elena asked as she quickly saw the brothers straighten up in her presence. "Just giving Stefan a lesson in fighting, never lose focus. Remember that brother." Damon retorted, while pretending to box. He had his arms in the correct stance as if her were in a boxing match, and that made Elena uneasy.
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked looking at his children and wife's new attire.
"We're going to the park, I'm gonna catch up with Bonnie and Caroline, while the kids play." Elena said with enthusiasm for the kids benefit.
"Oh ok." Stefan shrugged. "I thought we were going to have some family time, but we can do that later; Go have fun." Stefan fake smiled on the last part. He thought they were going to spend the day together as a family? Why had she all of a sudden changed her mind? Stefan had no clue and he wasn't sure why but it made him feel empty at the thought of her leaving to be with her girlfriends instead of spending time with him. After all in just a few short weeks he was going to war and they'd be apart.
"I know, and we were, it's just that I thought the girls should get out and play, while you deal with…" Elena stopped looking over to Damon "Him." She said curtly.
"Yeah don't worry about your hubby, 'Lena I'll take good care of him." Damon smirked.
"I'm sure you will." Elena said quietly before grabbing both Lexi and Miranda by the hands and walking out the door with the girls and her messenger bag.
"Love you," Stefan shouted out as they walked out.
"Love you too." They all shouted back, before Lexi and Miranda started giggling.
"What was that about? She was in an awful hurry to get out of here." Damon said in a curious tone.
"Well what did you expect after you got her riled up this morning?" Stefan sighed hoping that was the only case and that it didn't have anything to do with him leaving shortly for war.
Elena and the girls met up with Caroline and Bonnie in the park in their usual spot by the two picnic tables under the big oak tree that they had played on as children, it over looked a cute and small playground consisting of a swing-set with four swings, two slides one long and fast, the other slow and twisty as well as a tunnel that leads to a little tree house castle, and two sets of monkey bars: one two handed and a single handed one.
Bonnie and Caroline were already there chatting and watching their children play, when they spotted Elena. Bonnie had married Jeremy, Elena's younger brother and they had a daughter named Sheila after Bonnie's grams and a son named Grayson after Jeremy and Elena's father , and Caroline had married Tyler and they had a boy Mason named after Tyler's uncle who he had been very close to.
The children were already on the play-set having a blast! As Elena watched her daughter runs to join their friends she couldn't help but notice how they all named their children after people they loved and lost. She and Stefan named their daughter's after Lexi Stefan's best friend who died when they were in the war together and Miranda after her mother who died in a car accident along with her father Grayson Gilbert, who Jeremy had named his son after with Bonnie, and they also had a daughter who they named Sheila after Bonnie's grams who died; and lastly Tyler and Caroline chose to name their son after Mason Lockwood Tyler's uncle because he had passed too, and it somehow made Tyler feel closer to his uncle.
This made Elena realize a lot of people had been taken from them, but they still managed to be happy and content in their lives. She shook her head, as if to shake away anymore of her unwelcome thoughts, and joined her friends in their usual spot.
"Hey 'Lena." Bonnie greeted sweetly, "Take a seat." She said as she gestured to the open seat.
"Yeah Elena take a seat you look green." Caroline commented as she rushed over to her friend and put the back of her hand against her forehead as Elena sat down.
"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked getting up to go check her friend who seriously needed medical attention by the looks of it.
"Nothing, I'm fine guys…" Elena lied. But they knew her too well.
"No you're not!" Caroline said in a high threatening whisper.
"Yeah Elena, we can definitely see something is up, so spill." Bonnie relies.
"Ugh." Elena utters at the last part of what Bonnie just said.
"Oh sorry honey, I meant spill your thoughts, not your insides." She says with an apologizing smile.
Elena seemed to relax a little at that. "Stefan is leaving again." She says in such a low whisper.
"What?" they both gasp in shock at the news.
"Yeah he's leaving two weeks from today," Elena said with a watery gleam in her eyes.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Bonnie says taking Elena's hands in her own.
"I didn't want to believe it was true and he wasn't even sure if her was going at first, and then we got the phone call three days ago, and now he's just… he'll be gone!" Elena gasped at her words holding back a sob.
"Oh honey, we're here for you, always." Caroline cooed before wrapping her arms around her best friend, who was clearly a wreck.
"What's important right now is for you to stay strong, and just enjoy the amount of time you have left with him." Bonnie said getting right down to business.
"I know that's all I wanted to do, but Damon just won't give us a break." Elena quips, trying to defend herself about why she isn't with her husband right now.
"Ugh! Damon! I could kill that man." Caroline says in a low dark voice, clearly upset that he's meddling in her best friend's happiness.
"I know what you, mean! Do you know how hard it is not to sneak into his room and…" She trailed off.
"And?" Bonnie asked bringing Elena back to her earlier thoughts.
"And STRANGLE him." Elena says in a loud whisper, clearly shaken up by Damon Salvatore messing with her, her marriage, and her children, and even more her life.
Elena had enough of him, but it was Stefan's brother she can't just turn him away it's not her place. She can hate him all she wants but she still has to put up with him because they are family. Ugh she hates having to use 'Damon' and 'family' in the same sentence, but it was the truth.
Elena finally just sat and stared ahead at her beautiful children playing on the slides and she couldn't help the small smile tug at her lips. Those were living proof of her and Stefan's love and commitment to each other and she was going to make sure they would always be protected. It was what she did, she was a mother now after all.