A/N: Hey all! So, CH.20 chapter is a little lighter than the other ones. But, things will be up and down for SE for a while. Anyways, Hope you all like this update and enjoy!
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CHAPTER TWENTY-One And Only-
Elena's P.O.V.
I feel the warmth of Stefan's arms around me, hear the sound of his breathing when he rolls over and rubs his face with his hands, yawning when he pushes the covers away from him. My eyes are partly closed, but I can tell that he's getting up and that it's probably already late in the morning.
I still feel that heavy weight in my chest from last night. You know, the one that you get after you fall asleep angry and heartbroken because you've finally confessed all the mistakes that you've made, in which so many of them you actually regret. But, it's hard to process that you've confessed them to anyone. The weight feels heavier than usual, the guilt of my actions from last night, my words that I had spoken to him are still there when I roll over and look up at the window that is halfway visible from the bed.
Yet, something's different this morning, the clouds are overcastted and barely bringing any sunlight into the room when I hear Stefan walk into the bathroom, closing the door behind him as I finally get out of bed. But just as my feet hit the cold wooden floor beneath me, I hear the loud and excited sound of Sam and Olivia, giggling with each other as they push open the door to our bedroom a bit and both of them give me a confused look as I look down at myself.
I'm still wearing the same clothes from last night when I had went outside to clear my head as I watch Olivia jump onto the bed, her smiling face staring back at me, sitting in my lap as she plays with my mangled hair and says. "Morning momma! Can I have a puppy?" This grin on her face that makes her brown eyes shine when she looks at me.
"Sammy. Are you talking your sister into trying to convince me into getting you guys a puppy?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at my son, watching when he places his hands behind his back and shakes his head, an innocent toothless smile on his face. I laugh as I watch him begin to climb up onto the bed with me as he speaks. "No..puppies are girlie, momma. I want a snake or a lizard.. But, I really want a snake more..Can I have a snake..Pleaseeeee, mom!"
"No snakes. Your mom is scared of them. But, maybe a puppy or a lizard..." Stefan comments, leaning against the door frame of the bathroom, wiping the back of his head with a white towel, smiling widely when Sam jumps off the bed and goes directly towards him with wide open arms. I laugh as Stefan bends down, picking Sam up into his arms and flipping him up side down instantly, tickling his sides.
Sam's laughter fills the room as Olivia watches them and she giggles too, jumping off of my lap and going towards Stefan, stretching out her arms up at him as she begs and pleads for him to pick her up too. "Can I have a turn. Please...Daddy..Please?"
The room goes silent, the only sounds that fill our bedroom is the laughter of our children as Stefan places a quick kiss on Sam's cheek and then places him gently onto the ground. Lifting Olivia into his arms and holding onto her hands tightly as he spins her around the room and she laughs out loud, bursting into laughter when Stefan stops and tickles the curve of her neck.
"Ahhh...Stopp..Ahh...Please!" Olivia begs, tears welling up into her eyes as she laughs harder and wraps her legs around Stefan's waistline. Olivia's arms resting against his shoulders when he leans into her again and smiles. "Okay..Come on you little ballerina. Let's go make breakfast."
"Dad, can you give me a piggy back ride?" Sam asks, tugging on his shirt as I watch Stefan look down at him, ruffling his dark brown hair with his hands as he looks over at me and nods.
"Uh..Yeah. Come on." Stefan says, bending down once more, one of his arms is around Olivia's back and the other one is out stretched towards Sam as he slowly walks over to Stefan and hops onto his back, legs gripping his waist line when Stefan places his other hand around Sam's bottom, hoisting him up when he slowly starts to stand up straight and says "Alright you two. Let's go make some food and leave you mom to get ready for the day." He comments, turning towards me, smiling a cautious smile.
"Thank you." I mouth in his direction as he nods and I watch carefully when he makes his way out of the room and out towards the kitchen with Sam and Olivia giggling the whole way out of room.
Stefan's P.O.V.
She smiling at me, picking off the blueberries from her pancake as she places them to the side on a napkin and hands them over to Sam.
"Olivia..Let me guess, you don't like blueberries?" I ask, watching as she giggles a bit, picking up her glass of orange juice and shaking her head.
"I would have eaten them." I tell her, watching as Sam looks up at me, dropping his fork onto his plate and holding the maple syrup covered berries into the napkin in his hands.
"Oh, here." Sam says suddenly, handing me the crumbled up piece of napkin with the now slightly smushed up berries inside, leaking juice and maple syrup all over my hands as he gives me a grin and states. "You can eat them now."
"Thanks, Sammy. Yum!" I say out loud, watching as Elena turns the corner, her hair is damp and making the red shirt that she's wearing soaked with droplets of water from her shower, a relaxed and content smile is on her face when she looks up at me and says "I hope they're not causing too much trouble."
"No, I'm just sitting here, making sure they eat all of their food and helping out a little... Blueberries?" I tell her, a smile on her face when she walks into the kitchen, brushing past me as she nods and speaks in a soft tone. "Okay. Good. Because, I was thinking that we could go out and look around town. I don't know maybe take them to a park or something and then, maybe me and you could talk some more about...stuff." Elena comments, taking the napkin with the blueberries from my hands and into her own, looking over at Olivia who gives her a toothy grin, a small gap in her smile, where two of her front teeth should be growing in.
"Yeah, I'd like that." I tell her, watching as she walks over to the fridge and pulls out a carton of milk, placing it on the counter when she sighs.
"Momma. Can we get a pony in the backyard?" Sam asks, trying again with the same tactic that he did earlier in the bedroom, wiping his chin with a white napkin, crumpling it up and placing it beside his fork as I watch Elena look up at him, shaking her head.
"Baby, no. The backyard is too big for a pony or a dog. But, I know what this is..I heard that you two have a birthday coming up in a few weeks" She states with a smile, locking her eyes on me as I look at Sam, his green eyes shining with the realization that she remembered and then we both turn to look at Olivia who's giggling, her small hands covering her mouth as she looks at us and adds. "We're gonna be 6 years old!"
"Well, I promise that you'll both get a wonderful birthday present." Elena says, turning to the coffee maker and pulling out the coffee pot to make herself a steaming hot cup of coffee.
"You know, I had a puppy when I was six years old. My mom thought it was a good idea, to teach me some responsibility. His name was lucky." I comment, watching as Elena places a mug onto the counter top and lets out a small laugh, exhaling deeply before she speaks.
"Yeah and I remember what you told me happened to lucky after you and Damon...Oh, you know what..We're not getting a puppy. Not for a while." She says out loud, watching as I step closer towards her, leaning into her ear as I speak. "I want to talk to you for a minute."
Elena nods, pulling me by the wrist into the laundry room, shutting the door behind her as she places her hands onto her hips and looks up at me with a smile. "What?"
"I want to do something nice for their birthday and so, I really do think that getting them a dog would teach them some responsibility. Come on, Elena..He doesn't have to even be a puppy. It can be one of those girly dogs or a big huge slobbering mutt. It would even be nice because then I could take him or her on runs through town with me...I need to get back into shape." I comment, watching as she scrunches up her nose and looks up at me, placing her hand flatly onto my chest.
"A girly dog? Stefan, you would hate it. But you'd look hilarious taking it for a walk. The last dog you had was lucky and well...He took off and never came back home. If we got Sam and Olivia a dog like that, they would be heartbroken." She says, taking her hand off of my chest as I look back down at her hands, noticing the ring on her left hand, instantly changing the subject.
"It that your engagement ring?" I ask, watching when Elena nods. Her eyes follow mine as she looks down at her hands too and shrugs a bit. "I put it back onto my hand because I was going to go school shopping with the kids tomorrow. Plus, I was planning on going out into town and see if I could get a job, someplace..I mean we-" She starts to say, but stops short when I place my hands onto her shoulders and smile at her.
"You don't need to explain. I like it..It's nice, a new start. Plus, Lexi said that we're technically married..So..I guess we might as well get used to it. Right?" I ask, watching as Elena nods, looking up at me and sighing. "Yeah, I guess we should. Starting with an apology. I'm sorry about all the stuff that I said to you last night, I was cruel and a bitch...I didn't mean what I said when I told you that I wish you had never came back. Because, honestly..I'm glad that you're here and that I'm not alone in this anymore."
"Me too..I'm sorry too. But, we promised each other that we'd move on... So, about the dog." I try once more with changing the subject back to the one thing that I know drives crazy at the moment, watching as Elena rolls her eyes at me and clears her throat, giving off that scary mom vibe as she speaks in a stern voice.
"No dog...No...I don't want it!" Elena says sternly, narrowing her eyes at me as I exhale deeply, running my hands through my hair as Elena looks at me.
"Fine. I won't get them a dog. Promise. But, you'd change your mind if I got a cute one." I tell her, shrugging my shoulders, watching as Elena pats my back and goes to leave the small laundry room. But right before she does, she turns back towards me and gives me a small warning, a piece of advice almost. "If you bring them home a dog. You'll be sleeping outside with it..So make sure that the dog house is big enough."
"You're joking..right? Come on...Elena! You'd fall in love..I bet you that you'd totally change your mind if we just went to go look at them with the kids." My voice trails off, hearing when Elena laughs, placing her hand onto the door and closing her eyes for a brief second before she locks her eyes on me again and says "Try it and we'll see what happens."
Caroline's P.O.V.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Come on, Caroline. You can do this, it's just an undercover job as a hot and seductive maid..No big deal..right?
I've been attempting to give myself the same pep talk in the bathroom mirror for the last fifteen minutes. But, just as I start to straighten my hair and get into character, I hear as the front door opens widely and Tyler makes his way inside the house.
"Babe..I'm home!" He shouts, walking through the house as I exhale and open the bathroom door, making my way out of the bathroom and nearly bumping into him in the hallway.
"Holy hell! If I would have known that you'd dress up for me like this after being away from the house for 2 days..I should leave more often." He comments, placing his hands on the middle of my back and pulling me towards him, leaving a quick kiss onto my lips.
"I've missed you." Tyler says, watching as I smile at him, nervousness in my laugh as I run my hands through his hand, watching when he closes his eyes at me.
"I missed you too. But-" I begin to say as Tyler runs his hands lazily up and down my backside.
"Oh not this again. I come home and want to spend time with you and you're leaving? Oh..I officially hate our work schedules!" He says with an annoyed tone as I lean into him, kissing the side of his face and briskly letting go of him when I step back to look at him.
"I will make it up to you. I promise! I'll even recreate this outfit tonight...Plus, Mr. Lockwood..I think it's about time we test out that new mattress." I tell him with a wink, hearing as Tyler lets out a laugh, rubbing the back of his head as he smiles at me and nods.
"Are you sure..You always come home all cranky after work." He comments, watching as I brush past him, my hands trailing against his chest as he swallows his words quickly.
"Oh, I won't tonight..I'm all yours when I get home..By the way, I do think it's time we start trying to add a baby Lockwood to the family." I comment, grabbing his hand into mine and squeezing it as I start to walk away.
However, Tyler pulls me back towards him, both of his hands on my cheeks as he smiles widely "Oh, yeah? I can't wait then..I'll be impatiently waiting for you to come home to me." He says, leaning into me, rubbing his thumbs against my rosy cheeks as he kisses me roughly, breaking apart and whispering into my ear when he says "Let that hold you over for the next few hours, because there will be a lot more from where that came from when you get home tonight."
I really can't stop thinking about the tingling kiss that Tyler left against my lips as I walk into the station and go straight into Jeremy's office.
"So, I was thinking that we could...Let me call you back." He says, placing the cell phone that was in his hands onto the desk in front of him quickly when he sees me walk thru the door. Jeremy's jaw looks like it's about to fall to the ground when he licks his lips and clears his throat to speak, watching as I close the door behind me.
"Holy shit..Caroline...I...You...You look good. I..Uh..um...Let's get started." He says, handing me the thick four files on Katherine and Klaus as I sit down and look them over once more.
"So, besides me looking like a hot piece of ass..How am I even going to get them to trust me? I mean, we don't even know if they need a housekeeper..How-" I start to say, hearing as Jeremy laughs, turning around in his seat quickly and then locking his eyes on me as he says "Oh, yes we do..Here's your proof..Candice Forbes." He comments, handing me a piece of paper with a phone number and a description of a couple who is in desperate need of a cleaning lady to come to their house two times a week, for a few hours.
"So, I already called them just to verify the number. Well, Katherine picked up and you have an interview in...a half hour. I told them that I was calling in behalf of a friend." He says, a smirk on his face when I lock my eyes on him.
"I have my resume and the cover story memorized." I inform him, watching as Jeremy nods.
"Okay, good. So, Candice. Tell me a little bit about yourself." Jeremy states, his voice turning all business like within minutes as I clear my throat and recite what I was told by him and the rest of the department.
"I'm 25 years old. Just finished school a few months ago as a hospitality major and I do have a few years of experience in customer service. I'm kind of new to town and trying to get my footing and figured that this would be a great start. I'm reliably, honest and very detail oriented and I can start immediately." I tell him, hearing as Jeremy laughs and shakes his head.
"You nailed it. But, you might need to add a few more things, which shouldn't be a problem if Katherine asks you specific questions. Now, get out there and make sure you get the job because it's our only chance of getting into that house and collecting what we need. Oh and Caroline. Be careful!" He comments as I get up, smiling at him as I turn to leave his office, slowly getting into my undercover mode with every step and silently praying that when Katherine see's me that she'll like me, instantly.
It doesn't take me very long to get to the house. I'm nervous as I park the car and look up at the two story, white picket fence, dark cherry colored door with its cream colored stucco and freshly new planted flowers.
I'm lost in my own thoughts, trying desperately to memorize the fake resume and the small details of who 'Candice Forbes' is when I look up and see her. She's got this tan colored tank top on, these very provocative pair of shorts covering half of her body and when I take a deep breath my eyes are locked on her. Katherine smiles a bit as she looks directly at my car and I quickly notice that she's waving to me as I exit the car, slowly making my way towards her.
"Oh, You must be Candice!" Katherine states in an icy tone fake tone, turning back towards her, talking to someone inside the house as I smile at her, carefully making my way up the stairs.
"Yes, I am. It's very nice to meet you..Miss Pierce." I say in a very friendly manner. My smile is plastered on my face when I extend my hand out towards her, watching as Katherine smiles nervously and then shakes my hand firmly when she says "Oh, please call me Katherine. Now, please come inside the house. You and I have a lot to discuss about this position and if you'll even be a good fit."
A/N: Hmm...So what did you all think about the little family bonding moment? :) I'll be adding a lot more of that as they will most likely be at the safe house for a while. Also, let's hope that Caroline doesn't get in over her head with her undercover mission at Klaus& Katherine's house.
-Until Next Time!-