Chapter 7
It had been two days since Caroline had found Stefan, two days since she'd told him he was father, two days since they'd agreed they were in it together. Stefan had taken to fatherhood like a duck to water, he was a natural with Grace and absorbed every single moment he could with her.
After their conversation on the night she'd arrived, Caroline had no doubts that Stefan was going to be there for her and Grace, he'd been extremely protective of both of them since she's arrived but she couldn't say she didn't like it. In fact, it was a nice to feel protected, to feel like she wasn't on her own in it all.
Like the had done for the previous two nights the two of them were sat in the spare bedroom, getting Grace ready for bed. Thanks to Stefan, Grace now had a cot to sleep in, as well as a thousand other things that Caroline had insisted weren't necessary but Stefan had brought anyway. That evening, Caroline was leaning against the headboard of the bed, cradling Grace in her arms as she drank her bottle, Stefan sat next to them both.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to this…" Stefan said, Grace's eyes watching him closely.
Caroline smiled back nodding "It's taken me a while. Until I found I was pregnant with Grace, I'd never actually thought about having children. Now I can't imagine life without her. It's still really strange though, I mean I'm physically only 17 and was in college…now I'm a mom."
"And a fantastic one at that Caroline. You have no idea how at home you look with her." He said softly. Grace was now getting sleepy in Caroline's arms, she pushed her bottle away and wiped her eyes stretching towards Stefan "Come on then…" he held his arms out to her hoping she'd move towards him. Caroline had been telling him that Grace was beginning to crawl so she was trying to encourage her.
"Grace, what's Daddy got?" Caroline said softly, placing Grace on all fours on the bed. Stefan was holding a smaller version of a teddy bear that looked suspiciously like Miss Cuddles. "What is it, is it bear?" Grace smiled and made a few attempts to take a few paces forward as she patted her hands against the bed.
After a couple of seconds she managed to move herself towards Stefan, he watched with pride as she reached him and took the bear from him. "You're so clever Grace…" He lifted her and held her against him.
"And she's tired…" Caroline said watching Graces eyes drift shut.
"Tell me about her" Stefan said softly "Tell me all I've missed out on, when she was born what her favourite things are, what she doesn't like."
Caroline nodded "How about I show you?" she held her hand out to Stefan who took it in his own, they closed their eyes transported into one of Caroline's first memories of Grace.
"Matt!" her voice echoed around the house. "This isn't happening right now…" She took several deep breaths "MATTTT!"
"I'm here what's up?" he stepped into the bedroom looking at Caroline's position and her pained face.
"I think the baby's coming" she said pushing a breath through her lips
"Oh Holy…OK ok."
"You need to call Tyler tell him to meet us at the hospital. He know what to do." She reeled off a list of things that matt needed to do. "We need to go now matt."
Stefan took a breath as he saw Caroline in so much pain, clearly scared and not knowing what to do. He focused and was taken back to the memory, but he seemed to have missed something. This time he could see Caroline laying in a hospital bed, clearly unconscious.
Her eyes shot open. Tyler stood up from the chair and moved over to her "Where am I?"
"You're in hospital care…" he said softly
"What happened?" she frowned slightly and then tried to move "The baby…what's happened? Where's the baby? Is it ok?"
Tyler nodded "The baby's ok. It's you we're worried about. You've been out for nearly a week." Her eyes widened "You're ok… something to do with the spell. We thought you were gone Care…"
"I'm hungry…" she said, licking her lips. "I feel weak…"
"Yeah I thought you might. Here…" he took a cup from the side table "It's blood." Caroline quickly drank the entire cup, colour flooding back to her cheeks as she finished it. "better?"
"I will be. I want my baby, Ty…" she said firmly.
"Wait until you meet her Caroline, she's amazing." He said "Matt's just outside with her"
"A Girl? I have a daughter?"
Tyler nodded "let me go and get her…"
A couple of seconds later Caroline was more than aware of the crying as Matt stepped through the door holding her baby. He moved over to Caroline, kissing her cheek and placing the baby in her arms "Congratulations, Mamma."
Caroline jostled her arms slightly "Hi babygirl…" the crying stopped a little "I'm your Mamma…I am. And I promise I will never let anything ever happen to you."
The memory faded out, both Stefan and Caroline opening their eyes. "I'm sorry it was a little sketchy…" Caroline said "I don't really remember much from her birth only what I was told after."
He squeezed her hand more "Do you have more?"
"Yes." She nodded
"Can I see them?" Stefan asked "I mean if you don't mind me seeing them…"
"Of course I don't mind, it's just…I don't want to upset you with them. I mean it was my fault you aren't in these memories…" Caroline said softly
"Stop blaming yourself. They won't upset me Caroline, I want to see these things…there's going to be plenty of memories to come with all three of us right?" Caroline nodded "Then I'd like to see the memories leading up to those new ones…"
Closing her eyes again, Caroline squeezed Stefan's hand. This time it wasn't a specific memory though, it was almost like a slid show of all the different moments Caroline had experienced with Grace. He saw Grace's first smile, heard her first little giggle, he saw her change and grow, but with the happy there was a little sad. He saw the nights that Caroline cried herself to sleep, the nights where Grace cried relentlessly.
"That's all I have…" Caroline told him, her eyes opening. "I can tell you the rest…" Stefan nodded "Well she was born on February 15th, day after valentines so she's just gone 6 months. Her full name is Grace Elizabeth Salvatore."
"You gave her my last name?" Stefan asked, surprised that she'd done that.
"You are her Dad, I am a traditionalist at heart." She smiled "Her first word was Mamma, although she'll pretty much make a noise at anything." Caroline laughed "She loves her bear, Matt got her it when she was born; she will literally have a fit if anything happens to it. She still has her bottle but obviously I do feed her a little blood too, it keeps her settled and she actually really likes it. We've just started to try her with some solid foods, so far she will eat sweet potato, mushed up and banana, she doesn't like anything remotely savoury tasting, she definitely has a sweet tooth."
"I wonder where she gets that from" Stefan teased
"Hey, you always like dessert too" she pointed out, blushing a little when she saw Stefan's eyebrows raise "Oh you know what I mean. Anyway, that's about it really…oh she loves bath time. She would happily sit in a warm bath for hours as long as she could see me."
"We have one good kid huh?" Stefan stood up "Why don't you go downstairs, or take a bath and relax a bit Caroline? I'll tuck Grace in and sit with her a while."
She softly smiled and moved on the bed, watching Stefan put Grace to bed. "I'd be happier here…"
Stefan moved to sit next to her again and smiled "And are you happy? Are you happy here with me?"
"More than you'll ever know."
Stefan leaned forward kissing her lips deeply, his hand caressing the back of her head, they became lost in the kiss, every feeling that had been hidden deep within them rushing back at a thousand miles an hour. Caroline pulled back gasping a little. Stefan stared at her "Please tell me I didn't misread the signs?"
"no, no you didn't. It's just been a long time and things seem to be coming together so easily."
"I know…we can still take it slowly though" He told her tucking her hair behind her ear. "Why don't you take that bath?"
It didn't take much persuasion for her to agree, five minutes later Stefan heard the tub being filled up and Caroline's soft humming coming from the bathroom. He sat on the floor next to Grace's cot, reaching out and brushing her blonde hair from her face. She looked so peaceful. He held her little hand for a few seconds, but quickly retracted it like her skin had burnt him. He blinked trying to get rid of the vision he'd just seen.
Taking his phone from his pocket he dialled a familiar number
"Stefan?" her voice sounded after a few rings
"Bonnie, what do you know about vampires having children and then the child being able to show visions?"
He heard her laugh and then stop "oh you're not joking…honestly I don't know, why?"
"How quickly can you get here?"
This has got to be one of my favourite chapters :) hope you enjoyed too ! x
