A/N: Hey All! So, Here's CH.11! Hope you all like it and Thanks for reading!

CHAPTER ELEVEN-Learning To Breathe Again-

She had woken up in the warmth of the master bedroom upstairs, it was already the second day since they had been there and Elena already felt better about where they stood, especially in their relationship. Yet, she still frowned a bit when she had realized that she had woken up alone in the large bed, a note left on the left side of her in Stefan's hand writing.

She exhaled deeply as she swung her legs over the bed, hitting the ground with a soft thud as she opened the letter and read it, scanning his writing up and down.

Good Morning Beautiful,

Don't worry. I didn't go anywhere...come out to the docks whenever you get up.

P.S. there's a surprise on the counter downstairs.

I love you.

-Stefan

The docks, he was outside most likely out in the cold, waiting for her. Elena quickly got dressed in a red short sleeve shirt, her dark colored jeans and one of Stefan's grey sweatshirts. She pulled her hair up into a low ponytail as she ran down the stairs, not even worrying about wearing any makeup.

Elena giggled to herself as she walked out into the living room and noticed a medium sized box, wrapped with a dark purple bow that had 'Elena' written on the top of it. She eagerly opened it quickly and gasped at the contents inside.

It was a dark brown photo album, pictures with everyone in them as she flipped through it, her eyes became teary eyed and her hands began to shake as she looked down at a picture of her, Stefan and Ava after one of her dance recitals. A letter to the side of it that was in her daughter's handwriting, saying how much she loved them and just as Elena was about to close up the photo album, tears in her eyes and now falling down her lashes, she watched as a small white piece of paper fell out..another one of Stefan's notes that read ' Memories are too important to forget. I love you! Come out to the docks, I'll be waiting.'

Elena wiped away at her tears as she closed the photo album, placing it on the coffee table in front of her as she exhaled deeply and then stood up, taking a quick glance at her wedding band as she smiled and walked out of the house, in search of Stefan.

He was standing out by the water, watching it hit against wood of the dock when he heard her footsteps approach him.

"There you are." Elena said, smiling widely as she stepped behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her head on his back.

"Hey, sleepy head. I didn't want to bother you this morning. So, I got up and left a note instead." Stefan told her, turning around to face her. Elena smiled as she leaned into him and kissed his lips softly, feeling his cold hands on her warm face.

"Good Morning." She whispered against his lips as Stefan laughed and replied the same words back.

"Thank you for the gift. Stefan it's..." Her voice trailed off, gazing up at him with a wide eyed smile on her face as she watched him nod.

"You're welcome. I've been working on it for a while, I guess it was like my little project to help me cope...kind of like what Esther suggested, remember the good times. You know?" Stefan told her, holding her hands into his as he watched Elena nod.

"Yeah..I know. Stefan, I don't want to ruin this moment..at all. But, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry...I'm sorry that I ever blamed you for Ava. You of all people didn't deserve that and it wasn't fair. You lost her too and instead of us working through our loss together, we were blaming each other for so long. I just...I feel like I owe you an apology." She told him, feeling as he tightened his grip around her hands and secured his eyes on hers.

"I know..I'm sorry too. I'm sorry for pushing you into grieving too fast, because I know now that it takes time..that it takes a lot of time and I'm glad that we're both realizing that." Stefan told her, leaning into her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling as Elena rested her head against his chest and exhaled deeply.

"It does take time and I know that now too. But, I'm happy we're working things out..you know. Because, if it wasn't for us talking to each other about this, trying to work it out...God only knows where we'd be now." Elena told him, holding him closer to her chest as they stood out on the docks, listening to the water beneath them slowly pass by.

They had spent their days talking and just learning to lean on each other again. But, when the last day approached. Neither of them were ready to leave the comfort of the lake house. Yet, it didn't take long before Caroline called to check in, make sure that they hadn't decided to stay in Virginia forever.

"So, are you guys coming home soon. I'm starting to get really bored without my best friend. Klaus is getting antsy without Stefan around and if I come home one more time and have to drink a beer with him and listen to a damn Bon Jovi song, I'm going to go crazy!" Caroline explained, listening as Elena exhaled on the other end and laughed.

"You're laughing? Wait...you're laughing..That's good! Did you and Stefan..." Caroline asked, listening as Elena let out another laughed, clearing her throat before she replied.

"Caroline, we're coming home tonight and I promise you that once I see you, I'll let you know about everything! Look, Stefan and I are packing and getting ready to leave and since it's a 3 hour drive. I'll call you in the morning, I promise. I love you and tell your husband to chill!" Elena informed her, giggled as she felt Stefan's hands on her backside, turning her around as she spoke into the phone.

"Okay, Fine. Just tell your husband to keep his hands..Wait, that...Oh hell! you know what I mean! I'll see you tomorrow for coffee?" Caroline bargained as she heard Elena agree and then hang up the phone.

"Let me guess, that was Caroline...calling to tell you that Klaus is driving her insane!" Stefan said, holding Elena by her hips as he heard her exhale deeply.

"Aha, she asked if we could come home sooner today than, when we had planned..she wants to talk." Elena told him, feeling one of Stefan's hands on her backside and the other moving under her shirt, grazing against her stomach.

"Stefan, we..." She began to say, feeling him pull her closer as he licked his lips and bowed his head down so he could kiss her neck.

"Sweetheart, please...because once we go back to reality. We'll have friends, the counselor and our jobs to worry about. Let's just enjoy our last few hours away from everyone." He replied, tracing small circles on her stomach as she gritted her teeth, pushing herself slightly away from him as she smiled up at him.

"Okay, an hour. One hour and then we have to be on the road!" Elena exclaimed, trying to compromise as she watched his green eyes light up.

"One hour...You have no idea all the things I could do to you in one hour." He told her, bringing up her chin with the tip of his fingers as he smiled at her and left a quick kiss on her lips.

"Fine, but let's just-" She began to say, watching as Stefan backed away from her, taking his shirt off and throwing it on the couch behind them as she gave him a confused look.

"Baby, what are you doing?" She asked, hands on her hips as she smiled at him.

"Elena, you told me that I've got one hour. So, I'm accepting the challenge. Come on!" He told her, bending down as he grabbed her by her knees, slinging her small frame over his shoulder, her laughter filling the room and her small fists pounding at his back in protest to put her down.

"Let me go. Please!" She shrieked as she felt them turn towards the bedroom.

"Nope, not until our one hour is up. But, even then...I don't think that I can promise you that." He told her with a smirk on his face as he slowly walked up the stairs and entered into the master bedroom.

The week had gone by fairly quickly since they had spent their time at the lake house and Monday morning was like a slap in the face with reality. Elena had rushed out the room in a hurry as she kissed Stefan on the check and left the house, letting him know that she would be home around three because the school principal had called her and asked if she could come back into work, they needed her and so, Elena gladly agreed.

She missed work, missed the kids and it had been far too long since she had been at the school. So, when she stepped into her classroom that morning, feeling a bit nauseous she figured that maybe it was just the nervousness of seeing her new classroom, the new kids that she had to teach and also hearing about the gossip mill about what they really thought as to why she had taken months off of work, surely some of the woman had been talking about it and Elena couldn't wait to figure out what they were spreading around the so called "rumor" mill in the offices.

Elena sat at her desk as she heard the bell ring, she cheerfully sent the kids running off to recess as she laid her head down on her desk and closed her eyes, the feeling of nausiousness loomed around her as she heard the clicking of high heels. Elena slowly raised her head to look up and saw two cheerful faces starting back at her.

"Well, Mrs. Salvatore, you are a hard woman to keep track of! Elena, you totally forgot to come over and see me last week after you and your husband came back from your mini vacation. So, I decided that I'd drag Bonnie with me to come and talk to you while those little kids of yours are all running around." Caroline told her, a smile on her face as she placed a brown bag on Elena's desk and watched as she squinted her brown eyes and scrunched her nose together.

"I'm sorry Care! God, what's that smell!" Elena groaned, covering her nose and trying to breathe through her mouth as Caroline and Bonnie looked over at her in surprise.

"Sweetie, it's a hamburger and fries. You're favorite!" Bonnie told her, taking a seat across from Elena's desk into one of the student's desks.

"Sorry, I'm just...I haven't been feeling very good lately. Must be all this flu stuff going around." She told them, watching as Caroline and Bonnie gave each other a knowing look and they both sighed.

"Elena, are you sure it's the flu...I mean, Bonnie and I know that you and Stefan went up to the lake house to 'reconnect' maybe..." Caroline's voice trailed off, narrowing her eyes at her best friend as Elena shook her head.

"No. Stefan and I made sure we were careful. I mean, I even told him that..I'm not ready for another baby...It's got to be the flu..It'll pass..I'm sure of it." Elena retorted, watching as Bonnie laughed and got up. She walked over to the brunette's desk and sat down on the edge.

"Honey, when's the last time you had your period..I mean, think...really hard." She told her.

Elena laughed, shrugging her shoulders back as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. She thought about Bonnie's words, calculating in her head silently as she sighed with a laugh. "Will you two stop it. I'm not pregnant. I mean, it's just the flu..I would know if I was pregnant..You all seem to be forgetting that I used to have a child! I would know and I would be totally late...I'm just-" She began to tell them in a sarcastic tone as Caroline looked over at her and smiled.

"Elena, how late are you?" Bonnie asked, watching as Elena smiled and opened up the bag of food, taking out the French fries and burger as she laughed.

"It's just a few days...that's it..I'm late. But, it's just by a few days. Trust me, I'm not pregnant!" She told them as she opened up the wrapper that had the hamburger in it and took a bite as she once more shook her hand and looked at her two best friends. They were just overreacting, she thought to herself as she looked at both of them and swallowed the food down, praying that it wouldn't be coming back up and hoping that she was right.

A/N: Thoughts on Elena...is she pregnant or not? ;)

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-Until Next Time-