Elena stood there smiling at the blonde woman with tears in both of their eyes. Elena knew she would see Caroline one day, but it was like she never left. Well, other than Caroline being pregnant she hadn't changed a bit. Caroline took an attentive step closer, she couldn't believe Elena was here.
"Elena," Caroline asked again and Elena broke out of her trance.
"Hi Caroline," Elena laughed and with those two words the young woman vamp sped over to her best friend pulling her into a tight hug, if the pregnancy belly wasn't there then they would have been one person or getting close to it.
"Group hug," Caroline said as she turned to look at Bonnie who was smiling at the girls.
"Okay," Bonnie laughed getting into the group hug with tears in her own eyes.
"You too Mister Salvatore," Caroline says and Stefan shakes his head.
"I don't do hugs," he says with a hint of a smile.
"Get over yourself," Caroline says and Elena nods before he walks over giving them all a tight squeeze.
The three girls still hugged one another after Stefan pulled away going back to the food. Elena hadn't seen Bonnie sense she woke up, but she hadn't even talked to Caroline. Elena felt a little kick from Caroline's belly before laughing. Elena pulled away and looked at the growing belly.
"Well hello," Elena cooed.
"That's your aunt Elena," Caroline said to her stomach, "She's been gone for a little while, but she's back."
"And I can't wait to meet you guys," Elena smiled at the stomach before looking over her shoulder when she got the feeling of being watched, and it was Stefan watching her carefully with a small smile.
"Aunt Bonnie will tell you the whole story when you guys get here," Bonnie laughed as her own tears fall down her cheek.
"Where's Ric," Elena asked looking behind them for a moment.
"It was supposed to be a girls' day," Caroline said looking over at Bonnie who gave an innocent smile.
"He'll be here shortly," Bonnie smiled, "I told him about the plan and he said he wanted to see you. He'll be here soon."
"You sneaky little witch," Caroline laughs shaking her head, "I might need to be careful on trusting our girls' days, you'll have me crying every time."
"You know you love me," Bonnie laughs, "And those are happy tears."
"I shouldn't have wore makeup," Caroline laughed through her tears.
"Awe," Elena cooed before pulling Caroline in for another hug.
"There's our girl," Elena heard a familiar voice say from the door and she pulled away from Caroline to see Alaric, "Hi Elena."
"Ric," Elena whispered before running over to give him a tight hug.
"It's good to see you Elena," Alaric whispered and she nodded against his shoulder.
"You too Ric," she said still in a whisper before pulling away to look at him, "Congratulations. The both of you will be great parents."
"Thank you, Elena," he countered with a smile, "For everything."
She nodded unable to get any words out. The girls all sat on the couch talking about everything, the past and the future. Elena had missed this, she had missed both of her friends dearly. It wasn't long until Alaric and Stefan went to grab the gifts for Caroline. Elena tried to distract her with questions of her wedding.
"Stefan told me you and Alaric got married," Elena hesitated, "What was it like?"
"It was wonderful," she smiled remembering the day fondly, "It was right after we found out I was pregnant. We had only planned it for about three weeks before having it. Everyone came; well except you and mom."
"How are you doing with that," Elena asked remembering how hard it was for Caroline right after she lost her mom.
"I miss her," Caroline nodded trying to sound strong, but anyone could look in her eyes and see she was breaking, "I thought I missed her terribly when she died, I mean I did, but now… Now that I'm pregnant I miss her more. Having my own babies makes me miss my mom. I always pictured that I would be human telling my mom that I was pregnant and we would celebrate, not that I'd be a vampire carrying someone else's babies telling my mom's grave."
"Elena," Alaric grunted from the door, "Will you come hold this door open for me?"
"Oh yeah," Elena said getting up running over to the door, holding it open as the boys carried the first crib.
"I'll get the next one Ric," Stefan said as they sat the crib down with no effort at all.
"I'll help," Elena chimes in wanting a few moments with Stefan.
He smiled at her before walking out the door, with her behind him. When they reached the crib, she smiled to herself. It had turned out beautiful. Stefan watched Elena carefully as she ran her hand along the side of the crib.
"This is beautiful, Stefan," she breathes staring at it carefully, "I can't believe you made this."
"I could have done better," he whispered tilting his head to get a better look at her, "If I had more time I could have done more detailing to it."
"I don't see how," she said with a sad smile as a tear fell.
"Hey," he whispered putting his hands on her face so she would look at him, "What's wrong?"
"No Stefan," she said as he wiped the tear away, "I'm fine, really. Don't worry about me."
"That's like telling a human not to breath," he sighs laying his forehead against hers, "I always worry about you, Elena. I worry about you because I love you."
"I love you too," she whispers closing her eyes letting another tear fall.
"Please tell me what wrong," he breathes.
"It's really nothing," she says opening her eyes to look at him, "It's just… I know that the only way we will ever be able to have a family is by you giving eternity up for only sixty years of real life. I don't ever want you to feel obligated because I'm human again that the only way for us to be together is for you to take the cure. I want to be with you forever Stefan, but I'm not going to live that long. I get at the most seventy years before my times up."
He doesn't say anything as his own eyes fill with tears. He knew what she was meaning, that he would really loose her one day and he won't be able to wake her up. He would have to go the rest of eternity without the one person that made it worth living. He couldn't handle these feelings, so he bent down drawing her lips to his and kissed her with so much passion it hurt. He never wanted to lose Elena, he didn't want to give up his light in the dark world. Elena was his soulmate, his soul rested with her and only her.
"Elena," Bonnie called as she approached the couple and smiled a little as they pulled away from each other, "Caroline was getting worried. Sorry, I should have knocked or something."
"It's fine," Elena said nervously with a blush, "We'll be heading right in. Do you mind holding the door for us?"
"Sure," Bonnie smiled and Elena nodded before picking up the crib and Stefan helped.
The walked up the stairs into the cabin. They didn't really have any trouble, other than Elena's arms being a little sore it went great. As soon as they put down the crib Elena saw Alaric and Caroline smiling at each other on the couch and blushing. Elena shook her head after a moment, it's going to take her a while to get use to them being together.
"Those are gorgeous," Caroline squealed getting up slowly and walking over to cribs, "Where did you get these?"
"Stefan made them," Elena says as Stefan wraps his arm around her waist.
"It's gorgeous," she repeats and Elena sees the tears in her eyes, "They even have their names on them. I can't believe you made this, Stef!"
"I knew you didn't have a crib," he shrugged.
"It's perfect," Caroline says before giving Stefan and Elena a hug, "Thank you guys. I love it, and I love you both."
"We love you Care," Elena whispers as Caroline pulls away.
After a few moments of Caroline gushing over the cribs they all sat down. Stefan pulled up as chair and sat in it, pulling Elena on his lap. Bonnie, Caroline, and Alaric all sat on the couch as the five of the shared old memories, Caroline trying to embarrass Elena by talking about when Matt had come over and her dad had kept popping in the room they were watching a movie. After the memory was shared there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Elena smiled as she stood up and walked towards the door.
She opened the door and nobody was there. She looked around the yard, but still no one. She was about to shut the door before a package caught her eye. She bent down picking up the neatly wrapped box with "it's a girl" wrapping paper on it.
"Who's it from," Caroline asked as Elena looked at the tag.
"Hey Blondie," Elena began to read, "From… Damon."